'These guys came from God'

Six Flags team puts Catholic Charities' gift house in order

WAUKEGAN -- Jim Wogan, volunteer coordinator for Catholic Charities' annual Adopt-A-Family program, never knows where his Christmas miracles will come from, but they never fail to arrive. The year's first gift descended in the guise of 60-person work party from Six Flags Great America.

Volunteers from the Gurnee theme park helped to prepare an empty 52,000-square-foot retail space at 2205 N. Lewis Avenue for the holiday gift distribution that runs Dec. 6 through 14.

"These guys came from God," Wogan said Friday as the crew around him swept, sawed and hammered. "God picked them up and dropped them in my lap."

Wogan's miracle workers were part of Six Flags' Project 6, a companywide day of volunteer service by nearly 4,000 employees across the nation. Six Flags contacted United Way of Lake County, which connected 200 volunteers in Lake County to Catholic Charities, Winchester House in Libertyville, and the Lake County Forest Preserve District.

Many of the Six Flags volunteers were highly skilled.

Electrical engineer Harold Lucas, of Bristol, Wis., heads the Gurnee park's ride control department, where he oversees maintenance, including rehabbing and retrofitting of electrical components on rides like Raging Bull and Viper. On Friday, he helped restore electrical power so that volunteers could have lights and working outlets to power things like microwaves, crock pots and wet vacs.

"Six Flags has been really good to me," said Lucas, who has worked for the company since high school. "It's good to help, especially this time of year in this bad economy."

The distribution space, donated for the duration of Adopt-A-Family by Oakbrook-based Inland Continental Property Management Corp., was also without hot water until volunteers found an old, rusty water heater and worked their magic. Viola! Hot water for hand-washing.

"They are unbelievable," Wogan said. "We've never had a group as competent. They brought their own tools."

Alexis Willick, 25, of Kenosha, a Six Flags personnel supervisor, spent Friday morning using an electric grinder to shave off bolts that jutted from the floor.

"We work hard all season," Willick said. "It's nice to come out into the community and really show what we can do."

Dirt, bits of glass and pieces of old tile yielded to the big broom pushed by Dawn Shefsky of Ingleside. The assistant manager of the park's retail warehouse said it makes her happy to know she's helping families that are struggling, like her's once did.

"I remember what it's like to not have a lot at Christmas," Shefsky said. "I know where these kids are coming from."

Two hours after volunteers began transforming the old grocery store, another miracle occurred: delivery of the season's first load of toys that were hauled off a truck by more volunteers.

"When a kid jumps up and down and yells 'Mom! I got a bike!' I tell my volunteers, 'There's your paycheck,'" Wogan said.

Project 6 volunteers donated more than 28,000 hours of service, time valued at $567,000, according to New York City-based Six Flags Inc.