Josh Cyganik said he’d seen the older man sitting on his porch every day, and it bothered him to see the man shamed for the state of his home.
A man in Oregon organized a home makeover for an elderly neighbor after overhearing teens say the house was so ugly that it should be burned down.
Josh Cyganik
Josh Cyganik, a 35-year-old track inspector for Union Pacific Railroad in Pendleton, Oregon, was working across the street when he saw two teens pass the house. One called it the "fucking ugliest house I'ver ever seen," and said it should be burned down, Cyganik told BuzzFeed News.
Cyganik heard the comments from where he was standing. So did the resident of the home, 75-year-old Leonard Bullock. The older man was a familiar sight to Cyganik, who saw him daily sitting on the porch.
The comments appeared to get to Bullock, who hung his head -- and that bothered Cyganik. In the four years he had worked across the street, he hadn't talked to the man, but he waved at him every day.
"I was brought up to treat people with respect, respect your elders," Cyganik told BuzzFeed News. "He didn't deserve that. I had to do something."
Cyganik talked to a friend at the local Tum-A-Lum Lumber Company, which agreed to donate paint. He then asked Bullock if he could paint his house.
Bullock, who had some mobility issues, was floored by the offer of help.
"He was speechless," Cyganik said.
He asked a few railroad coworkers to help with the labor, and also asked for volunteers in a post on Facebook. That post was shared more than 6,000 times.
When painting day came, more than 100 volunteers showed up.
"There's nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer," Cyganik said.
SOURCE: BuzzFeed
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