Companies Donate Services to Eliminate Termites from Prisoners of Christ Homes

Standing outside of the Prisoners of Christ home that is being fumigated are (from L-R) Bryan Cooksey, McCall Service; John Dancy, resident manager for the Prisoners of Christ ministry; and Steve Rivers, Rivers Pest Control.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Two Jacksonville pest management companies did their part to help a worthy organization with its termite problem by donating their expertise to help eradicate destructive drywood termites from a pair of homes operated by the Prisoners of Christ ministry.

Prisoners of Christ is a faith-based program providing re-entry services for men coming out of prison as they transition back into civilian life. The ministry operates five transition houses in the Jacksonville area where recently released prisoners live and receive counseling and life skills training.

Two of these homes, however, are infested with drywood termites. Drywood termites, while not encountered by north Florida homeowners as frequently as their subterranean termite brethren, still pose a serious threat to the structural integrity of a house.

McCall Service and Rivers Pest Control performed full-house fumigations - the most effective way to eradicate drywood termites - on each structure.

“Unlike subterranean termites, drywood termites do not need contact with soil to obtain moisture and they can survive in a structure without water,” says John Cooksey, chief operating officer and an entomologist with McCall Service. “They live in wall and ceiling voids, attics, door and window frames, eaves and wood siding, and are protected over winter by a structure’s warmth.”

Since drywood termites, which swarm in May and June, often infest areas of a structure that are inaccessible to service personnel, a fumigation is the best way to ensure the treatment permeates all the infested wood.

For both McCall Service and Rivers Pest Control giving back to the community is part of the corporate culture they aspire to on a daily basis.

“Investing in those who are willing to make positive changes in their lives and giving back to the community is what McCall Service is about,” says Bryan Cooksey, president and CEO of the Jacksonville-based, second-generation pest management and lawn care company. “We have been blessed by our customers and we are giving back to the community that blessed us. The Prisoners of Christ organization is a living example of how Christ has asked us to be a light in this world to others and we are doing our part.”

For Prisoners of Christ the much-needed fumigation services mean it can protect its houses from termite damage without having to redirect limited operating funds that support the day-to-day activities of the mission such as meals, utilities, and job placement and counseling services.

“What McCall Service and Rivers Pest Control are doing is a real credit to their sense of community and compassion,” says Ken Durkee, president of the Prisoners of Christ program in Jacksonville. “We rely on donors to help out and the in-kind work these two companies are providing is greatly appreciated and lets us keep the ministry moving forward and achieving its goals.”