Boy Scouts install wheelchair ramp for Copley resident
10/9/2008 - West Side Leader
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| Photos courtesy of Bob Fish |
Homeowner Terry Williamson invited her friend Denise Wiland to live with her after Wiland was forced to move out of her home due to foreclosure. Wiland has several health problems and has been using a wheelchair for several years. Williamson could not afford to install a wheelchair ramp and asked the Scouts for help.
The group gathered Oct. 4, which also was Wiland’s birthday, to install a wheelchair ramp at Williamson’s Schocalog Road residence. Some of the boys helping with the project are pictured at right top working on the installation of the ramp.
With a significant discount for supplies from Home Depot in Montrose and a monetary donation from Grace Church of Greater Akron, the Scouts were able to answer the call for help, said Andy Pearcy, project organizer and a father of one of the Scouts.
“We felt the call to do this,” said Pearcy. “We had to get it in before winter.”
Shawn Robinette, a father of one of the Scouts, designed the ramp.
The ramp took a group of about 20 people about eight hours to finish, according to Pearcy. He is pictured at right middle standing next to Williamson and her dogs.
Boys Scouts’ Great Trail Council District Commissioner Bob Fish said the project taught the Scouts leadership skills and confidence.
“At their ages in school, the boys have to memorize a lot of facts and figures, so sometimes the meaning of things like The Scout Oath can become just words to them,” Fish said. “I think the boys learned that ‘to help other people’ [part of the oath] is more than just a another phrase for them to memorize.”
Pearcy and Fish also donated funds for the project.
Shown at right bottom is the group of volunteers on the newly installed ramp.
The group is seeking donations to finish paying for the $1,200 ramp. Anyone wishing to donate can call Pearcy at (330) 670-8359.
