GE volunteers good to Hood

LYNN – A grateful Hood School Principal Gayle Dufour looks forward to her students? return on Sept. 9 thanks to cleanup and repair work done this week by 20 General Electric volunteers.Dufour said River Works engineers, including Robert Kursmark and Kelly Butler, spent Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. painting Hood?s first-floor walls and landscaping the East Lynn school?s grounds to make Hood a welcome place once the school year begins.GE volunteers pulled weeds and painted lines and markings for school-yard games.?We have a huge school yard, and they just made it so beautiful and welcoming,” Dufour said.Kursmark oversees some of the annual River Works volunteer efforts oriented to the Lynn public schools, and he said coworkers always make the time to help local schools.?It?s a good thing to do for everyone in the schools. They tell me the students see the difference,” Kursmark said.The 40-year River Works employee said volunteering a few hours to spruce up schools like Hood gives him a sense of accomplishment.In addition to painting and doing landscape work, GE volunteers made repairs to school fencing and guardrails damaged during the winter.Dufour said River Works volunteers for three years have painted two or three classrooms, landscaped around the school, swept the schoolyard and repainted playground equipment.?They are so energized and enthusiastic about giving back to the community,” Dufour said.