SCHWEINFURT, Germany -- With t-shirts, hair and hands covered in tiny white speckles, the Soldiers of Bravo Company, 72nd Expeditionary Signal Battalion applied the last coats of paint to the interior of Jugendhaus Fränz, a local youth center that 30 days prior was covered in scribbles, doodles and unsightly graffiti.
The idea for the project stemmed from a desire to find a way to thank the city and the citizens of Schweinfurt. Led by the Bravo Co. command team, Capt. Erick Mendoza and 1st Sgt. Leonard Jenkins wanted to give back for the hospitality Schweinfurters have extended to the U.S. Army and its Soldiers and families for nearly seven decades.
Capitalizing on the longstanding partnership between the U.S. Army and the office of Schweinfurt?'s Lord Mayor, Sebastian Remele, the garrison?'s Executive Officer, Mr. Klaus Mauder, arranged for the city to supply the paint while Mendoza and Jenkins assembled the troops to begin the makeover.
A group of 72nd ESB volunteers -- who included Pfc. Trevor Cardwell, Pfc. William Pruitt, Pfc. Patrick Andrade, Pfc. Marcus Smith, Pfc. Darnell Foster, Pfc. Demarcus Williams, Pfc. Samuel Williams and Spc. James Echstenkamper -- picked up brushes and rollers, mixed paint and trimmed edges as their custom-made unit t-shirts went from blue to white one paint drop at a time.
?"Although it?'s been a struggle at times, I?'m having fun out here," said Pfc. Cardwell, who admitted to having no painting experience prior to this project.
The Jugendhaus Fränz is a 4-story building -- managed by the city of Schweinfurt -- where kids from elementary to high school age go to socialize, practice their hobbies and learn new skills with the support of the adult staff.
On weekends, the center opens its doors to the public, who come to support local youth artists as they strut their stuff on the main hall?'s concert stage. Yet years of graffiti and toilet poetry have gone untouched. A paint job was in order. That's when the 72nd ESB stepped in.
Mendoza said that, beyond an esthetic restoration, this project allows the youth of Schweinfurt to challenge the misrepresentation of the U.S. Soldiers as a group of foreigners using Schweinfurt as a staging location while they deploy and redeploy from combat missions.
?"Schweinfurt has been a home away from home for me, and I will miss it," said Mendoza. ?"So before leaving, we just want to finish strong."
Related Links:
(VIDEO) 72nd Soldiers speak about their work at the Jugendhaus
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