Soldier deployed, students finish painting his house

William Cookson of Salina, Kansas was partway through painting his house when he got the call. His Army National Guard unit was being deployed to Kuwait. 

A branch of the Salina Chamber of Commerce, the Military Affairs Council, got wind of this. They contacted an instructor at Salina Area Technical College with an idea. The instructor liked the idea and put out a question to his student body - anybody want to finish painting a deployed soldier's house? All 40 students in the Diesel Technology program said "Yes!"

So last week they got started. They power-washed, cleaned the gutters, scraped and primed. And they painted. 

Cookson's wife Skyped the event to William in Kuwait. The couple is overwhelmed by the generous gift of time and effort given to them by strangers.