Local volunteers were inside, outside, and below a Sandy Hook resident's home under the mostly clear skies of May 5, working to revitalize a home on Waterview Drive.More information about HomeFront is available on its website homefrontprogram.org. More information about the Newtown Lions Club is available at its website newtownlions.com.

The day marked HomeFront Day's 30th Anniversary. This year, the community-based program worked on 70 homes for low-income families in 36 towns across Connecticut. The Newtown Lions Club participates in HomeFront Day annually, working to fix a different home in town each year. The Waterview Drive project began the day before with work on the home's foundation. By 8:30 am on May 5, local Lions and other volunteers started arriving at the home to continue the project. By mid-afternoon, Jack Burns, the homeowner, was carefully working inside his bathroom, inspecting the installation of a new window using a level.

As Mr Burns worked, the team of volunteers were busy painting the exterior of his home, completing work on the foundation below, and cutting wood.

"I'm just glad they are here," said Mr Burns, adding that the volunteers were taking projects off his to-do list.

Newtown Lions Club member and project House Captain Jerry Cole said the day's efforts included replacing two windows and building a foundation for the home. It never had a foundation, he explained.

Mr Burns said his father bought the house as a summer family home in 1964. His best estimate is the house was originally built in 1925.

"It was a one-room, summer cabin," Mr Burns said. Throughout the years, the home was sectioned off into other rooms.

Mr Cole said Mr Burns has completed projects in the home over the years, like replacing an interior wall in one section. All of the work Mr Burns has completed was well done, according to Mr Cole, and the volunteers were working to fix other areas.

Volunteers from the Newtown Congregational Church brought sandwiches to support the day's efforts. Roughly 20 volunteers worked on the home for the day, according to Newtown Lions Club Volunteer Coordinator for the project, Gordon Williams.

Reflecting on what it felt like to have all of the volunteers at his house, Mr Burns said, "It's like the good old party days we used to have when we were younger."

According to HomeFront, since the program began in 1988, it has helped more than 3,100 families. The free repairs enable older adults living on fixed incomes, disabled homeowners, low-income veterans, single-parent households, and families in transitional crisis to remain in their homes with a much improved quality of life. HomeFront is dedicated to providing quality of life improvements to families with financial hardships.