The Barre Gazette
Responding to a request from the town of Oakham, Worcester County Sheriff Lewis G. Evangelidis recently provided free inmate labor through the Sheriff’s Inmate Community Service Program to the Oakham Historical Association for some much needed priming and exterior painting of its historical museum that dates back to the 1700’s and also served as the town’s first Post Office. The project completed by the Sheriff’s Inmate Community Service Program provides the Oakham Historical Association with several thousand dollars in savings. The sheriff’s inmate work crews are made up of nonviolent, non-sex offender individuals approaching the end of their sentence who have earned a place in the Community Service Program.
Since taking office last year, Sheriff Evangelidis has more than doubled the size of the Inmate Community Service and in addition to recently helping at Oakham’s Historical Museum provided inmate work crews to complete projects at the Oakham Town Hall and Senior Center resulting in a significant savings of well over $30,000 for Oakham’s community.
“The Inmate Community Service Program has provided a true win-win for the town of Oakham and for the Sheriff’s Department. With local communities continuing to struggle during these tough fiscal times our inmate work crews are able to accomplish many projects at no cost resulting in a significant savings for municipalities and non-profit organizations while inmates who are selected for the program appreciate the opportunity of a productive days work” Evangelidis continued. “With over $2 million in savings for our local communities since last year, the Inmate Community Service Program continues to serve as a great asset and as sheriff I am thrilled to provide this much needed and valuable resource to the town of Oakham as well as all of the cities and towns throughout Worcester County.”
“We cannot thank Sheriff Evangelidis enough for his visiting today and for providing the Inmate Community Service Program for almost two weeks to complete the enormous project of priming and painting the exterior of our beautiful historical museum which dates back to the 1700’s. The inmate work crews were extremely courteous and did a highly professional job on these desperately needed improvements that we could no have afforded or completed otherwise. The Sheriff’s Inmate Community Service Program has been a great gift to the town of Oakham completing extensive projects at our town hall, senior center and now historical museum providing well over $30,000 in savings to our Community,” said Oakham Historical Association President Jeff Young.
