Carpenter and Mitchell Elementary Schools are looking for volunteers to help with the Paint For Kids program, which will gather community members to paint hallways at the two schools during winter break.

Gene Firn, owner of DIY Painting Instructors and a painting contractor through his business Gene Firn Custom Painting, is planning to paint two hallways in each of the schools. But at this point, just five volunteers have signed up at Mitchell and none at Carpenter.

“If we had enough people, we could do it,” he said. “I’m hoping to get seven volunteers plus myself. If eight of us could do it, I think we could do it in four or five hours.”

The program would take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Dec. 28 and Dec. 29, with the first day meant for prep work on the walls and the second day for painting. To volunteer, call the Mitchell or Carpenter elementary school offices. The phone number for Mitchell is (734) 997-1216 and Carpenter’s is (734) 997-1214.

Firn will be overseeing the project at Mitchell, which includes a hallway about 30 yards in length and another hallway about 20 yards in length. Bill Champion, another local paint contractor, will oversee the project at Carpenter.

Firn said the project during winter break is meant to be a pilot that could be expanded for coming breaks. He said the fact that the school district no longer has a paint department means many buildings aren't having their needs met, and walls are begging to look “shabby” in some areas.

“The schools are expected to handle this on their own and since most of them don’t know what they’re doing, most of it doesn’t get met,” he said.

He said more projects could be done during the mid-winter and spring breaks this year. And if all goes well, the program could be expanded with other contractors overseeing projects at many other schools.

AAPS will be supplying the paint and tape needed for the project and will be doing some prep work before the volunteers begin. Workers are expected to bring their own paintbrushes to the site.

Firn said he created the program after visiting Mitchell while looking for a site for his Paint Like A Pro program through the district’s Community Education and Recreation department. While meeting with Mitchell Principal Kathy Scarnecchia at the school, he noticed many areas of the school that needed painting work.

“After I left our meeting, I started thinking about conditions at the school, and I noticed the there were a number of places looking kinda shabby,” he said.

Kyle Feldscher covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com.