By Kimberly Hopson

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – A local Veterans of Foreign Wars hall will be receiving a face lift soon, courtesy of Team Depot, the LaPlace Home Depot’s crew of volunteers.

Ray Bass, VFW Louisiana Post 3337 commander, said that the while the structure of the building is sound, the building’s facilities are sorely in need of updating. Bass said the building is at least 50 years old.

“The building is so outdated, and we’re trying to change the perception of how younger members see the VFW. They think it’s an old (people’s) organization, and it’s just old people sitting around drinking,” said Bass.

“We’re trying to get more younger members involved. The only way we can do that is change the way they see your place — first impressions are everything,” he continued.

Bass said the organization is also

trying to gather more female membership

and new ideas for fundraisers and other community events for the future. Bass said the VFW used to participate in a larger variety of activities, such as baseball teams and fish frys and that he hoped to eventually return to that kind of participation.

“We’ve got to be more family-oriented because younger members have kids and like to have them involved with things they do. (The older members) have forgotten about it. We have to go back and bring it back in to the VFW,” said Bass.

The plans for renovation are all possible because of a $20,000 grant from the Home Depot Foundation. Bass said that the organization started their application about a year ago. The process was relatively speedy thanks to the help of the local store manager, Parker Lombard, Bass said.

“We applied for a grant with the Home Depot Foundation, and they were really ready to get involved with us. Everything has been approved. The store manager was more than happy to be involved with veterans,” said Bass.

Team Depot volunteers will add facilities for the disabled to the restrooms, paint the ceilings, replace doors and cabinets, bring in new television sets, add granite counter tops in the kitchen, paint the walls and install energy efficient lighting throughout the building.

Bass said that the revamp is set to begin July 2. Renovations are expected to be complete by July 4.