Sherwin-Williams is continuing its long-standing community service tradition for its seventh annual National Painting Week, which runs from May 25th to June 4th, 2018.

During the month of May, thousands of local Sherwin-Williams employees teamed up with participating builders and painting contractors to apply fresh coats of paint to over 200 community spaces in need, including community centers, schools, historic landmarks, and shelters.One of these partners is KB Home, which first participated in Sherwin Williams’ National Painting Week tradition in 2017.

“We’ve been a partner with Sherwin-Williams for 20 years, so for 20 years every single one of our houses has gotten Sherwin-Williams paint,” says Dan Bridleman, senior vice president of sustainability, strategic sourcing, technology and national contracts at KB Home. “We couldn’t think of a better way to bring sunshine to places that aren’t normally able to get it than by having our employees volunteer and work with Sherwin-Williams to create something beautiful with a little bit of paint and bring a smile to everybody’s face.”

Employees from many of KB Home’s regional divisions have participated in National Painting Week this year through the KB Cares program, which enables community service events and activities across the company. Last year the company’s painting projects included Ronald McDonald House in Orlando, Minnie’s Food Pantry in Plano, Tex., the Boys and Girls Club in Houston, Middle Creek Elementary School and the Soujourner Center in Jacksonville, Fla., and the Salvation Army and Haven transitional neighborhood in Los Angeles.

Teams of employees from KB Home and Sherwin-Williams worked together to paint this mural at the Salvation Army Bessie Pregerson Child Care Center in Los Angeles.
Teams of employees from KB Home and Sherwin-Williams worked together to paint this mural at the Salvation Army Bessie Pregerson Child Care Center in Los Angeles.

This year, Sherwin-Williams’ partner community organizations include local affiliates of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Canada, Ronald McDonald House Charities and Rebuilding Together, and many more. “We want to make sure that we do it right, and that we’re focusing our efforts where people need us,” says Tom Little, national director of homebuilder sales at Sherwin-Williams.

The company donates the necessary paint and supplies for each project, and local Sherwin-Williams employees work closely with the space’s owners or leaders to design the space, select color palettes, and determine any special considerations or pre-planning needs. For instance, for the Ronald McDonald House project in Oralndo, the team chose to use only anti-microbial paint.

“We did that because there’s critically ill kids there,” says Bridleman. “So you plain it ahead of time, you make the right choices, and the day that you get there you’re maximizing your time on the spot and it works out great. Everybody’s just delighted.”

Since the start of National Painting Week in 2012, Sherwin-Williams and its employees have contributed over 24,000 gallons of paint and over 90,000 hours of their time to refresh more than 1,000 spaces across North America. “We look to grow the participation from our local stores and districts and our local employees each year, and have it be bigger than it was the year before,” says Little. “And quite frankly, it’s fairly easy to do that because once someone gets a taste of giving back to the community and you see the looks on the faces of the people that appreciate the fact that you are there, donating your time to make their lives more colorful. You want to do it again the next year.”

Bridleman has similar goals for KB Home’s involvement, as he hopes to expand participation in National Painting Week to all of its regional divisions. “If you have people who work and live in those communities, what a great thing it is to be able to give back,” says Bridleman. “That’s why we have our KB Cares project that not only does Paint Week each year but also does multiple things to try and give back to the community. It’s a delightful time, and Sherwin-Williams is a fantastic partner.”

“I’m thrilled that we have the KB Home team joining us around the country again this year during National Painting Week,” says Little. “Like KB Home, our people are all local in each one of those communities, and it really excites them to be a part of the community and to give back. So I’m just thrilled to be working for Sherwin-Williams and be working with great partners like KB Home.”

More information on National Painting Week, including project locations, is available at swpaintingweek.com.