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Volunteers, churches prepare for Villa Park’s Love Your Neighbor Day on Sept. 20
Summary
Organizers described the volunteer-run Love Your Neighbor Day during the Village Board Committee-of-the-Whole meeting, said the event will be Sept. 20, 2025, and outlined how homeowners and volunteers can apply or donate.
Organizers of Love Your Neighbor Day told the Village of Villa Park Board of Trustees Committee of the Whole on Aug. 11 that the volunteer event to help homeowners with exterior repairs will take place Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025.
Mark Ladendorf, an organizer who said the event is run through the Christian Church of Villa Park, told trustees the program began in 2015 and has grown from 50 volunteers helping 10 homeowners in its first year to about 150 volunteers helping 34 homeowners last year. "Our homeowners can't believe that people they don't know want to spend a day working on their home, and they are very grateful," Ladendorf said.
Love Your Neighbor Day sends volunteer teams to do exterior work for homeowners who have financial or physical limitations. Ladendorf listed examples of work done in past years: painting, replacing windows, repairing decks and stairs, replacing rotted soffit and fascia, plumbing work, replacing screens, washing windows, and yard cleanup including weeding and trimming bushes and trees. He said volunteers generally do not enter the interior of houses since COVID and will not perform work that is unsafe, such as trimming trees near power lines, second-story work or roof work.
Ladendorf described the program's referral and outreach channels: local churches, food pantries, village code-enforcement referrals, York Township and senior centers. He said Love Your Neighbor Day does not have a separate bank account and that donations by check should be written to the Christian Church of Villa Park; organizers also provided a QR code for online donations and said they accept donated refuse stickers for bulk pickup needs. Village staff and trustees discussed helping connect organizers with the local refuse company; one trustee said the village has donated $2,500 in the past.
Volunteer and homeowner applications were available at the meeting and organizers gave contact information for people who need assistance filling out an application. Ladendorf said volunteers need no special skills, though skilled volunteers are put to use on more technical tasks. He also said Lombard runs a separate but similar program that coordinates different refuse collection arrangements.
Trustees thanked Ladendorf for organizing the event and encouraged residents to apply or volunteer. The organizer provided an email contact for the program: loveyourneighbor15@yahoo.com.
The board did not take formal action on the presentation; trustees indicated the village will hold printed application materials in the village office for residents.
