As a company, Gillece Services is known for giving back to the Pittsburgh community. However, the individuals who make up the Gillece Services family do plenty of helping out on their own.
Case in point – Bill Roell, one of our plumbers who also has an electrical background.
Bill recently returned from a trip to LaCroix, Haiti where he put his skills to good use, performing a complex electrical wiring job for a local Christian mission.
“I like to lend a helping hand to people who cannot help themselves,” Bill said.
Located 70 miles north of Port au Prince, La Croix was spared the devastation of the 2010 earthquake that rocked much of the country, but the city has become a new home to a flood of refugees fleeing the capitol city.
Bill and his group visited the New Testament Mission, one of the most successful charitable endeavors in a country that has seen its share of hardships. An oasis of hope, the mission village is home to seven churches, along with schools that educate more than 3,500 students.
While there, Bill installed wiring for a new solar panel and helped a team of volunteers building a new schoolhouse. He also helped hand out food and water.
“The feeling doing that was a mixture of happiness and sadness,” he said. “You’re so happy that you can help out, but it’s still sad to see with your own eyes people at that level of need.”
No stranger to charitable work, in the past he has helped the Make-a-Wish Foundation with plumbing jobs.
See below for more pictures from Bill’s trip
