SHAFTER, Calif. (KERO) — On Thursday, 23ABC was invited for a tour of volunteer efforts to remodel the Shafter Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. The project is slated to be finished around late Summer.
- All volunteers working on the remodel are part of the Jehovah's Witness faith, with some coming from as near as Bakersfield or Wasco, or as far as Florida to help with the project.
- The project's manager Kevin Rosales said the project is broken up into chunks and right now, demolition work is taking place as they work to modernize the hall for visitors in the future.
- Bruce Spencer is overseeing the project's audio and video portion that will take place later on in construction, he noted the ability to work for his faith and for the community that uses the hall is what drives him and other volunteers to work on projects like this.
- Rosales noted they are approximately two weeks into the 18-week project and they hope to be done by late summer
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
I'm Sam Hoyle, your Shafter Neighborhood reporter, as you can see behind me there's quite a bit of work happening at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses here in Shafter and it's all for a good cause. Approximately 500 volunteers will filter in and out of this job site over the next several months as they work to complete a remodel of this building for the several congregations that worship here.
All of the volunteers working on the remodeling project are part of the [Jehovah's Witness] faith and traveled from as close as Bakersfield and Wasco, or as far as Florida, to help out.
Kevin Rosales, the project manager, volunteering from the Riverside area, said he's been volunteering his time for several years and said he loves to be able to travel to new areas and meet new friends.
"Something I enjoy is going to new areas and making new friends, seeing the project as it develops. It's always an awesome thing to see as it moves forward using just volunteers," said Rosales
The project is broken up into chunks and right now the volunteers are in the demolition phase of the remodel as they look to update the hall.
"Making it more suitable for when people visit. It's an easier atmosphere to be in. It's going to be more modern, so it's going to be more comfortable when people visit and they can enjoy a nice program," said Rosales.
The remodel will benefit approximately 300 Kern County residents who use the Shafter Kingdom's Hall and for these volunteers, the ability to make their space better is what continues to drive them.
"When they ask it's always a little bit of joy because now we get to further improve a building to bring it up to modern standards. So when they – I was approached, obviously I'm happy about it and so I just start setting my schedule up to allow me time to come help on this project," said Bruce Spencer, the project's audio and video overseer.
Talking with the project manager they said they hope to have this remodel done and ready for people to enjoy by the end of this summer.
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