SCRANTON -- More than 100 teens from all over the country are in Scranton for a summertime tradition you may not think a group of teens would want to be a part of.
The house where Tom Abod lived all his life is a whole new color and he made a lot of new friends.
"It gives you a whole different pride," said Abod. "You look at the house and go, 'Wow.'"
Abod's house has been home to a handful of volunteers, mostly high schoolers, this week sent by a national mission trip organization and arranged by Neighborworks of Northeastern Pennsylvania. They've spent the week painting.
The house is one of 26 the volunteers are working on this week, but Tom says it's not just sprucing up his house, but the whole neighborhood, too.
"The neighbors have commented on the color. They say, 'I like the color. It's very nice. It looks good.' So, the whole neighborhood has what's going on."
A total of 140 volunteers from all over the country are spread out all over west Scranton and people are starting to notice the difference.
"There's always people that are walking by, and saying, 'Great job,' and 'We appreciate what you're doing,' even if it's not for them. So it's like a good experience," said Sophia Dasilva from Massachusetts.
Another group is installing a brand new porch for one resident on Hampton Street.
"Well, so far it looks amazing," said Derik Choi of New York. "I feel like once we're all done painting everything and putting down the wood, everything is just going to look wonderful."
A few blocks down Hampton, another group was giving another home a fresh coat of paint.
"I want to work really hard to help our resident," said Esther Kim of New York. "Her name is Dolly."
Dolly and the other residents say the work being done would be too tough or too expensive to do themselves. It will all be done by the end of this week, but the impression it leaves will last for years to come.
"It just feels like the time that we took was so worth it," said Elise Bonezzi of Ohio. "You can so tell the difference and you can tell the progress we're making. So it feels really good to see that we're going to make her happy by improving her home."