Most people don’t mind donating a few hours or even an entire day, but how many would spend seven full days doing manual labor for no pay?

Ken Corley with Ken Corley Painting did just that. Goshen Elementary School’s gym needed to be painted, and he took it upon himself to paint it, along with the stage, posts outside the gym, the doors and more.

“I was glad to do it,” Corley said. “The kids deserve a good place to go to school. I considered painting the gym as paying them back for taking care of my kids while they were in school there.”

Corley said the school asked for his help with the painting project two years ago, but he had a broken foot and couldn’t do it at that time. When they asked him again this year, he jumped at the chance.

“As soon as they talked about need things painted, he wanted to do it alone so he didn’t hinder anyone else working with him,” said Corley’s wife, Darlene. “He is a really hard worker, and he always does more than is expected of him.

Darlene explained that her adopted son was very close to one of his teachers while he was there and the principal is Corley’s aunt.

“We feel like we belong over there,” she said.

The GES PTO wrote Corley a letter thank him for his hard work and dedication to the painting project. The letter stated that the labor amounted to a $6,900 donation to the school.

“It was a good bit of work,” Corley said. “The final two days alone, I worked more than 16 hours per day. It took me about 70 hours to do the entire project.”

Although Corley has been in the painting business for more than 30 years, 70 hours of labor is a heavy load, especially when tackling it single-handedly.