Lawrence Community Shelter, 214 W. 10th St., got a major cleanup and repaint job Saturday through the efforts of members of Mustard Seed Christian Fellowship. Volunteer Gilda Beane was cleaning windows.

Mustard Seed Christian Fellowship member Jerry Beneventi joked that priority number one at Saturday’s “extreme makeover” at the Lawrence Community Shelter was getting rid of the K-State purple paint that adorns the lobby.

“It’s time for it to go,” said Beneventi, who was coordinating about 50 church members in an all-day cleanup event at the shelter. Volunteers and shelter residents worked side-by-side, painting, cleaning, scraping and drilling.

“It’s tremendous,” said Loring Henderson, shelter director, who was all smiles as he watched the volunteers work. “It’s going to be a big uplift. A big shot in the arm.”

Saturday’s event focused on some cosmetic upgrades, as well as some much needed basic maintenance, Henderson said.

The cleanup project was chosen after speaking with community members and various agencies about ways Mustard Seed could get involved, Beneventi said.

About a third of the congregation helped out in some way, including member Beth Pavisian, who was busy cleaning windows on Saturday.

For her, the day was all about being neighborly.

“I’m a neighbor. This is my neighborhood,” she said. “The people who live here are my neighbors.”