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June 5, 2020ENID – Abraham Alatorre usually works as a supervisor in the oilfield, but this spring he is supervising a crew of volunteers, tackling multiple repair projects at Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church and Saint Joseph Catholic School in Enid.
The crew members all are employees of Marsau Enterprises Inc., which, despite the downturn in the oil industry and fallout from the coronavirus, has continued paying its workers. Instead of their regular work, they are using their skills to help others in need.
“Work already had slowed down and then the pandemic hit us,” Alatorre said. “The owner said we could do community work around town. Everyone was excited.”
Marsau Enterprises President Marlin Esau declined to talk about the company’s charity efforts, but Alatorre estimates the 270 employees at the company’s Enid location have provided free labor to more than 50 churches, schools and individuals.
Workers have picked up trash along highways and cut down trees for homeowners who couldn’t afford to pay for the service. The company lets them choose the community service projects they want to do.
Alatorre is a member of Saint Francis Xavier as are many of the dozen volunteers working with him. They have repaired and painted walls, tuckpointed bricks in the bell tower, sanded and refinished a deck, and done landscaping at Our Daily Bread soup kitchen.
“They have just done a marvelous job,” said Father Mark Mason, pastor of Saint Francis Xavier. “We gave them a list of things that needed to be done. So far, they’ve tackled everything we asked them to.”
Many of the projects had been delayed because the parish only has one full-time maintenance employee, Father Mason said. Having a 12-man crew working throughout May “caught us up in a way that’s unbelievable,” he said.
Father Mason said a lot of the work would have required hiring an outside contractor. Getting the labor and equipment at no cost likely saved Saint Francis Xavier $10,000 or $20,000, he said.
“The amount of in-kind gifts is staggering when I put it altogether,” Father Mason said. “The gift that Marsau has given to this parish is really phenomenal.”
Alatorre said he appreciates his employer giving workers the opportunity to make a significant contribution to the community.
“We have the equipment. We have the manpower. We can do it,” he said. “It feels good helping out.”
K.S. McNutt is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.
Photo: Employees of Marsau Enterprises Inc. have worked for weeks doing maintenance and repair work at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church and St. Joseph Catholic School in Enid. The company is paying its employees to do community service projects in lieu of their regular work during the downturn in the oil industry. Photos by Daysy Alatorre.
