MEDIA ADVISORY * PHOTO OPPORTUNITY * MEDIA ADVISORY

400 Volunteers Repaint 15 Buffalo Homes in One Morning

When:  Saturday, September 18, 2010
  Approximately 8:30 a.m. to noon
  * recommended time to visit: 10 a.m. for “before and after” shots

Where: Kensington-Bailey Neighborhood (14215 zip code)
  Avenues:  Poultney, Elmer, Thatcher and Comstock (all located side by side)
  * recommended cluster for best footage: 53 and 66 Comstock

Who:  Roseann Scibilia, president, Brush Up Buffalo
  Bill Darling, owner, Darling Paint
  Kensington-Bailey neighborhood homeowners
  Brush Up Buffalo volunteers, sponsors, and executive board members

What:   Four hundred volunteers dressed in Brush Up Buffalo t-shirts will repaint 15 homes in Buffalo’s Kensington-Bailey neighborhood—all in a matter of about four hours—this Saturday morning.

The project, which is the organization’s 14th since forming in 1996, aims to beautify the area for low-income, single-family, owner-occupied homeowners – most of whom are elderly and/or disabled. Brush Up Buffalo normally takes place the day before Father’s Day but was postponed due to group’s decision to evaluate recently-passed federal lead-safety guidelines. In total, Brush Up Buffalo volunteers will have painted nearly 270 Buffalo homes after Saturday’s event.

NOTE: Volunteers are gathering at the Erie County Medical Center at 8 a.m. and then will be bused to the houses. They will reconvene at ECMC beginning at noon for a picnic lunch.

Sponsors for Brush Up Buffalo 2010 include the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation, Bank of America, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council #4, Citizens Bank, M&T Bank, Painting and Decorating Contractors of Buffalo, Damon Morey, Harter Secrest & Emery, Malcolm Pirnie and UPS. In-kind donors include Kensington-Bailey Neighborhood Housing Services, Map Sales, Wooster Brush, Darling Paint, Sherwin-Williams, Erie County Medical Center, Tops Friendly Markets, 360 Professional Services Group, clevermethod, Full Circle Studios, Seneca Gaming Corporation and the University Heights Community Development Agency.

~ Visit www.brushupbuffalo.org for more information. ~