Painting for Shriners - Somers High Alumni Excited to Work towards a Cause

Hello everyone!

My name is Chris Eastwood and I am a Somers High School Alumni and also a student at the UMass Amherst who is currently working towards gaining his dual degree in Kinesiology and Business Management. I would first off like to thank the Patch for granting me the ability to contribute to their Ellington-Somers Patch; I am extremely honored to be a contributor to this fantastic site. This summer I have been privileged with the opportunity to embrace my entrepreneurial spirit and work towards a cause I feel extremely passionate about. Through an Internship program provided by Young Entrepreneurs Across America (YEAA), I will be running my own branch of the exterior painting company Student Painters in the Somers, Ellington, Enfield, Longmeadow, and other surrounding areas!

I am doing this program for a variety of reasons, but my main reason is to donate back to the organization which embodies the definition of compassion. The Shriners Hospital for Children in Springfield, Massachusetts is part of the network of the Shriners non-profit Hospital establishments which can be found all across North America whose main goal is to foster a family-based environment and provide treatment to their children regardless of if the families can or cannot pay for the costs. This organization’s motto is, ”Love to the Rescue” and, as a long time patient and member of the Shriners community, I can attest to this motto with absolute confidence. I have personally witnessed the miracles that the kind-hearted doctors, nurses and various hospital staff of this organization have worked for its children and I fully back their ideology that every kid should be able to just be a kid. So in order to pay it forward, I will be compiling 10% of my profits from every job and collectively donating them at the end of this summer to this organization which is in the business of changing lives. In order to make this goal come to true, I have set up the charitable Painting for Shriners program through Shriners and also have been recognized by the City of Springfield in the form of a proclamation for my dedication to achieving this goal!

Student Painters has been operating in 21 states nationwide, in addition to Connecticut, since 1987. Our services include exterior home painting, decks, fences, sheds, barns, etc., which will be completed with the products/training services for our painters provided by SHERWIN WILLIAMS. On top of all of this, we are FULLY INSURED with $1,000,000 in liability insurance, EPA certified, have an A+ rating with the BBB, and offer a 1-YEAR WARRANTY! With your home, we understand that it is your greatest asset and therefore, pledge that we will not leave the job site until you are 100% SATISFIED with the results!

I am extremely excited to begin working on this project and giving other students in the area the opportunity to earn money which they can put towards their tuition expenses. So far, I have hired two spring marketers but my plan for this summer is to hire 8-15 other students who would be employed as summer marketers and painters - including production managers - for my branch of this company.

If you or anyone you know of would be interested in receiving a FREE, NO OBLIGATION estimate, or if you know someone who may be interested in working as a painter/marketer over the summer please do not hesitate to reach out to me at ceastwood@umass.edu or give me a call at: (860) 970-2331!