Nonprofit organization God's Pit Crew continues to work to help restore the community of Pond, California after homes there were devastated by the winter's rains and floods. Volunteers and volunteer coordinators hope their work will ensure a positive quality of life for the residents.
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00:00 We begin with the non-profit organization God's Pit Crew continuing to work to help
00:04 restore the community of Pond, south of Delano, after homes there were devastated by winter
00:09 rains and flooding.
00:11 23 ABC's Ruby Rivera has an update on that work, which the non-profit says will ensure
00:16 a positive quality of life for Pond residents.
00:20 One more week.
00:21 That's how long God's Pit Crew is expanding the project to ensure that Pond residents
00:25 get back on their feet and in their homes.
00:27 The decision comes after God's Pit Crew realized more work still needs to be done and they
00:32 tell me they're not leaving until all four homes are completely restored.
00:36 God's Pit Crew, Chris Childs, he'll be back out on the 7th of August and he'll be back
00:43 with another rejuvenated crew of workers to finish it off.
00:48 Volunteer with God's Pit Crew, Russell Bilberry, says at this point in the project, the goal
00:52 is to finish the week strong and get as much done as possible.
00:56 Every house with all new doors, all new, you know, the windows you see that they're going
01:00 in today, there's new roofs that have gone on.
01:04 All the interior should be finished out with cabinets, countertops, doors and new floors,
01:09 new bathroom fixtures.
01:11 All of those things will be done.
01:13 Bilberry says although this is the plan, a recent drop in volunteers has put them off
01:17 track a bit.
01:18 We're hoping to see, you know, ending this week, we'd like to have all the plumbing fixtures
01:22 in and be in a position where we can start to have pretty much a full functioning house.
01:29 They're now down to 15 volunteers compared to 70 earlier in the week.
01:33 Immediate Disaster Response Coordinator for God's Pit Crew, Miles Willer, says their biggest
01:38 issue so far is trying to match up tasks with volunteers.
01:42 Depending on what volunteers you have and what skill sets that they have, that's always
01:45 a little bit of a struggle because, you know, you might have somebody that is an electrician,
01:50 but they're not there when you're doing electrical work, you know, so that's always a little
01:53 bit of a struggle, but we've been getting it done.
01:56 Bilberry says they've painted and built new walls and roofs, with new countertops now
02:00 ordered but not yet installed.
02:02 Pond resident Bilquis Ubari says repairs to her home are almost completed and she is overjoyed
02:07 now that it's all coming together, but volunteers are still needed to finish the job.
02:12 We were able to get the walls, get the, you know, the letting, get it ready for the painting
02:19 and they did a lot.
02:21 It's a blessing and we're hoping we need some more volunteers because we still have a lot
02:25 of work.
02:26 There's still a lot of work to be done.
02:27 Bilberry says God's Pit Crew is an organization of their word, stating that when they start
02:31 a project, they intend to see it through.
02:34 He says he understands that not many people like to work in the heat and that people can
02:37 be busy, but donating even an hour of time is greatly appreciated.
02:41 And while they wait for more volunteers, he says God's Pit Crew is on standby, ready to
02:45 return for their final push.
02:48 If we, for whatever reason, the heat, the temperatures it gets in our way, we're still
02:52 not done.
02:54 So they'll be back for it and they've committed to doing that.
02:58 So they've made a commitment to this community and they're not going to abandon it.
03:01 Bilberry says coming back to the project after a week will allow workers to be well-rested.
03:06 It'll also give them time to regroup and determine how to utilize the labor that they already
03:10 have.
03:11 However, volunteers are still needed now more than ever, and information will be available
03:15 on our website at TurnTo23.com.
03:17 In Pond, Rubir Rivera, 23ABC News, Connecting You.