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63 °F Forecast | Road Cams Wednesday, May 5, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend April 19, 2004 House painter uses skills to aid families in time of need By BENNETT HALL for the Mail Tribune CORVALLIS — The weather couldn’t have been better for Jim Griffin’s vacation last week. The days were sunny and warm — perfect for doing a little house-painting. He wasn’t giving his own home a touch-up. Instead, the Medford man took three days of saved-up leave time to travel to Corvallis and paint the exterior of the Mario Pastega House, a low-cost hostel for out-of-town patients and their families under construction at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. The facility is named for Mario Pastega, who stayed at a similar hospitality house in Redding, Calif., when his sister had surgery there and provided the initial $350,000 pledge that jump-started the campaign to build one in Corvallis. Pastega is also the president of the Corvallis Pepsi bottling company, as well as the Pepsi plants in Tillamook and Medford. That’s how he knows Griffin. Griffin, 52, is operations manager for Pepsi-Cola of Medford, where he’s worked for 21 years. But his duties also include maintaining the fleet for all three Pastega plants, about 150 vehicles in all. His previous work experience included commercial painting, so he paints the trucks himself. Advertisement "You see a Pepsi truck running around town, those big ones? He painted it," Pastega said. The Mario Pastega House is a one-story building just down the hill from Good Samaritan hospital. It has 12 bedrooms arrayed around a central living room, with a communal kitchen and dining area, laundry room, children’s playroom, chapel and library. When it’s finished, people traveling to Corvallis for treatment or to be with loved ones in the hospital will be able to stay there for $15 a night. The price tag for the project is $2.3 million, which will cover construction costs and an endowment for maintenance and operating expenses. With longtime hospital booster Pastega leading the charge, the fund-raising campaign has brought in about $1.5 million to date. When Pastega turned to Griffin for advice on painting the Pastega House, Griffin decided he wanted to help. First he got Rodda Paint to donate the paint for the project — 25 gallons of the good stuff, so far. But he didn’t stop there. "I asked him about the painting," Pastega said, "and he said, ‘When you get ready to paint, let me know.’ " With the exterior of the house largely finished, Griffin came up to Corvallis the week of April 5 with friend Bryan Henderson, a 26-year-old subcontractor. With help from several local Pepsi employees who also volunteered their time, the two Medford men spent three days painting the outside walls of the 6,500-square-foot building in Rodda’s winter whey (white with a greenish tint). The trim got a coat of green shadow. Griffin shrugged off questions about sacrificing his vacation time to work on a volunteer project far from home. "Look at what they’re doing here — look what they’re doing for people," he said. "When people are sick, it’s a miserable time. They can come up and stay with their loved ones and afford to do it." He also pointed to the example set by his boss. "When you look at all the time Mario’s put into this thing, what we’re doing is just a drop." Henderson felt the same way. "I feel good about it," he said after finishing the job and packing up Griffin’s Pepsi truck for the three-hour drive back to Medford. "I’m glad to finally give something back." They’re not done yet — both men plan to return in a month to paint the building’s interior. This story is reprinted courtesy of the Corvallis Gazette-Times. Bennett Hall is the business editor for the Gazette-Times. Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S RESOURCES Oregon Road Conditions & Cams SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Food for Thought Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Prime Times