Local company hosting contest through Aug. 1

A local company is inviting community members to nominate deserving seniors to receive a much-needed free home makeover.

J.B. Painting Co. LLC is accepting submissions through Aug. 1 to conduct a free house painting for one lucky senior citizen between Labor Day and Grandparents Day, Sept. 2-5. The winner will be selected and notified in August.

"We run into so many elderly people who, first off, are not going to be climbing ladders to paint the eaves on their house and a lot of time they can’t afford it," Brenda Berry, who owns J.B. Painting Co. LLC with her husband, Jason Berry, said Monday.

“About 80% of our clientele are seniors," Brenda said. "It's heartbreaking that most of our senior population cannot afford to have their houses painted at an average of $6,000-$7,000 cost for exterior painting. Times are tough when you're on a fixed income.”

She said a basic principle of J.B. Painting is "give what you can."

"We paint, so that's what we give," she said.

In 2020, the J.B. Painting team painted the interiors of the cabins at Camp Lutherhaven Ministries.

"Then we offered our first Senior Paint Giveaway in 2021," Brenda said. "We partnered with Benjamin Moore Paint store on Government Way. In 2024, we painted the Mica Flats Grange Hall exterior with paint provided by Sherwin-Williams on Appleway and we repaired the steeple bell with equipment provided by Western States equipment rental."

She said after many discussions of what J.B. Painting would offer this year, the team felt more passionate about the Senior Paint Giveaway than other projects done in the past.

"We have always offered our seniors and military a 10% discount on our services, but this doesn't seem enough to bridge the gap," she said. "So here we are, Sherwin-Williams on Appleway is going to provide the paint again and also offer up some of their staff to help us paint another senior's house this year."

Nomination forms may be filled out in the Coeur d'Alene Sherwin-Williams Paint store at 745 W. Appleway Ave. or submitted to J.B. Painting via direct message on Facebook, facebook.com/JBpaintingcompanyLLC, or on Instagram: instagram.com/j.b.painting.

Nominees must live in Coeur d'Alene and be 65 or older in homes four bedrooms or smaller. They do not need to be low-income.

"It could be somebody going through a hard time," Brenda said, "someone who is a deserving senior who could use the help. It could be a way to preserve, maybe an older home that needs a little TLC."