Caring about those who care

Jeff Benson

Gilda Crone, Home Depot’s spunky, self-proclaimed “Outside Garden

Goddess,” cares about her job and her customers. Last month, she

received the Costa Mesa Home Depot’s “25 Years of Caring” award,

presented to employees at each of the home improvement chain’s 1,700

stores nationwide.

But the award wasn’t entirely hers to keep. Each Home Depot store

is donating $250 in gift cards to the award winners’ favorite

charities, so they can repair their facilities. Crone, 50, a Santa

Ana resident who works in the garden department, said she’s supported

or volunteered at one time or another with 18 various charities --

from the American Red Cross to the Assessment Treatment Services

Center, but she didn’t choose any of them.

“None of the charities I support are in Costa Mesa,” Crone said.

“As I was looking around for something in the city, I talked to 10 or

20 people I work with, and most of them said someone they know has

utilized the services of Someone Cares Soup Kitchen.”

This isn’t going to be a “do-it-yourself” project, by any means.

Crone and Someone Cares manager Shannon Santos bought painting

supplies at Home Depot last week using the $250 in gift cards. Behr

Paint donated an additional $300 to cover the cost of the paint.

Crone began the prep work at Someone Cares Tuesday, and at least 20

orange-aproned co-workers will help her paint today and clean up

Thursday. Some employees prepped the soup kitchen Tuesday in place of

their regularly scheduled hours, she said, while others donated their

time off the clock.

The crew won’t stop after the paint job, though. Cashiers,

associates and managers will also take on minor repairs, like fixing

a ceiling light in the men’s restroom and replacing a metal

backsplash in the kitchen, she said.

“[Crone] showed us what repairs we needed to make, and we were

able to go over there and buy all the painting supplies,” Santos

said.

Someone Cares Soup Kitchen, at 720 W. 19th St., Costa Mesa, was

founded by Merle Hatleberg in 1985 and serves 250 to 300 meals per

day to the poor and homeless.

Crone said her store ranks first in the nation among all Home

Depot branches in “Ladies Do-It-Herself” class attendance.

Instructors teach women home repairs, including ceiling-fan

installation, patching walls and laying tile, in the courses.

The classes have given Crone, a retired real estate agent, a

community to belong to. The classes have snowballed into 3 1/2 hours

of lessons and lots of laughs.

“When I retired, I wanted to find something to do,” she said.

“It’s great. What better things can a retiree do than to push buttons

and play in the dirt all day long? Home Depot’s a wonderful company,

because it just gives and gives.”