On Sunday, October 2^nd, a team of more than 60 volunteers from Cricket Wireless, Rebuilding Together St. Louis, and the Good Shepherd Children and Family Services will take up hammers, nails and paint brushes to give a face lift to Good Shepherd’s home for expectant teens, a $35,000 project funded by a generous donation from Cricket Wireless. This project is just part of Cricket’s $210,000, Platinum Projects which Cricket and Rebuilding Together are working on this fall.

“Cricket’s Platinum Projects deliver high impact change for homeowners, families and communities who are struggling to remain safe and viable,” said Gary A. Officer, president and CEO of Rebuilding Together.  “Cricket’s projects span across the country, truly transforming the framework of the cities and towns in which we work.”

Good Shepherd Children and Family Services is a part of Catholic Charities and a nonprofit facility that takes care of various children and family needs, including providing a home for pregnant teens who are dealing with broken families, problems in school and their community, and have nowhere else to turn.

“We couldn’t be more grateful to Cricket and Rebuilding Together St. Louis for graciously providing us this much needed renovation,” said Good Shepherd Interim Executive Director Jennifer Prior. “Our residents come from broken and unstable homes, and providing them with a more comfortable environment will help give them a much-needed sense of stability and security that they’ve lacked for most of their lives.”

The build includes an all-new kitchen, re-freshened bedrooms, and an updated recreation room.  Volunteers will update the kitchen with new appliances, countertops, and cabinets, plumbing repairs, interior painting, and flooring.  The six resident bedrooms will be painted and re-decorated with new bedding, blinds, and rugs.  Cricket will also add the Muve Music Room – turning a basement rec room into a fresh new hangout for the teen residents, with comfortable new furniture, a new flat-screen TV, new games for the Wii, and a stereo system and phone with Muve Music service provided by Cricket Wireless without cost for one year.  Muve Music is the first complete music experience created for a phone, an exclusive service where subscribers can choose from millions of songs, get unlimited music downloads directly to their phone, as well as talk, text and surf the web.

“We at Cricket are eager to get to work on revitalizing the facilities for this incredible charitable foundation that has helped improve the lives of many at-risk youth in the St. Louis area,” said Chenell Seaton Hall, St. Louis Marketing Manager for Cricket Wireless.  “Cricket is proud to be a top sponsor of Rebuilding Together’s efforts to support organizations that have such a large impact on the community.”

Cricket Wireless’ Platinum Projects focus on serving low-income homeowners and communities, addressing their critical needs, and rebuilding the health and infrastructure of homes and community centers through extensive rehabilitation and revitalization work.

“Rebuilding Together’s goal is to bring volunteers and communities together to improve the lives of those in need,” explained Rebuilding Together’s St. Louis Executive Director Dave Ervin.  “By revitalizing the residential facilities of Good Shepherd Children and Family Services, we are giving at-risk youth in the community a comfortable and safe place to call home.”

Cricket will donate an additional $240,000 for 15 more projects taking place through the end of 2011.  Cricket Wireless has been a Rebuilding Together President’s Circle Sponsor since 2009 and contributed a total $2.5 million towards the mission of helping homeowners in need.  Throughout the course of their partnership, Cricket Wireless has delivered 85 grant awards to more than 40 Rebuilding Together affiliates, and has awarded 17 Platinum Projects.  In 2010, Cricket and Rebuilding Together created a new home for the Demetrius Johnson Foundation, an organization that inspires inner city youth to better their lives through mentoring, financial, vocational and scholastic assistance program.  For 18 years, the Demetrius Johnson Foundation did this work without a building of its own.  A $50,000 Rebuilding Together project sponsored by Cricket turned an old St. Louis city community center into a new home for the Foundation, restoring the basketball court and weight room, creating a youth lounge, painting and creating landscaping.