Salem Glen Mailbox Painting Project raises $10,450 for Clemmons Food Pantry

Published 12:00 am Thursday, February 6, 2020

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Salem Glen, a community of approximately 400 homes, participates in a neighborhood food collection drive every month to benefit the Clemmons Food Pantry. Additionally, Salem Glen just donated $10,450 to the pantry from its Mailbox Painting Campaign.

Many of the older heavy-gauge steel mailboxes had lost their black luster and appeared more gray than black. Also, the brass numbers had become tarnished and difficult to read. Salem Glen resident Ken Burkel spruced up his mailbox and numbers with high-quality paint and the neighbors noticed and commented, planting the seeds of the “Mailbox Painting Project.”

Ken sent out an email to all Salem Glen homeowners, offering to paint their mailboxes for a donation, left to their discretion, to the Clemmons Food Pantry. Thinking maybe 25-50 homeowners might take him up on his offer, Ken quickly realized that he needed to enlist help from volunteer painters. Austin Coan, Donna Sparks, Norm Crowe, Lee Stallard, Chet Cosgrove, Jerry and Kris Drummond and Dane Sebastian stepped forward and the painting began in earnest.

Each mailbox took about two hours to paint including the brass numbers. The more volunteers painted, the more requests were made. In total, the mailbox painting crew painted 173 mailboxes and raised $10,450 for the Clemmons Food Pantry, resulting in a win-win situation: many residents of the Community have like-new mailboxes and the Clemmons Food Pantry has a significant donation toward its new facility.