ST. GEORGE — A St. George house recently received a fresh coat of paint and a landscaping lift during Zions Bank’s 31st annual Paint-a-Thon service project.
More than 50 area bank employees and their family members rolled up their sleeves May 20 to transform the downtown St. George home of Clark and Kayla Hutchings with new paint.
Built in 1949, the 1,700-square-foot painted house has been in Kayla Hutchings’ family for more than 50 years. Clark Hutchings is a military veteran who retired after 41 years as facilities manager at Utah Tech University, formerly known as Dixie State College, according to a news release from Zions Bank.
Along with beautifying neighborhoods, the Paint-a-Thon project aims to help elderly, disabled and veteran homeowners take pride in their homes and maintain their independence. Throughout the week, more than 3,200 volunteers – including Zions Bank employees and their families – volunteer to clean, scrape and paint 36 homes in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming.
In addition to painting, Zions employees provide yard clean-up, pruning, mowing, planting and minor repairs as needed by homeowners. Much of the cost for paint and supplies is contributed by Zions Bank, and Ideal Home and Paint Supply in St. George also contributed to this project, the news release said.
The average age of this year’s homeowner is 76, with an average yearly income of $30,495. Projects completed during the annual week-long event were selected with the assistance of nominations from the public, state housing agencies, community organizations and local churches.
Launched in 1991, Zions Bank’s Paint-a-Thon began as a volunteer project for a dozen homes along Utah’s Wasatch Front. Over the three decades, Zions Bank employees have set aside summer pastimes for a week each year — volunteering in the evenings after work and on Saturday — to paint more than 1,200 homes throughout Idaho and Utah.
Not counting the dollar value of volunteer hours through the years, the bank has donated more than $1.3 million toward beautifying homes in the two states, the news release said.