On Saturday, May 8 – the day before Mother’s Day – several volunteers from St. John North Shores Hospital (SJNSH) and L’Anse Creuse Public Schools gathered to build a ramp for a young mother in need.
This project was a group effort. Several years ago, SJNSH established the Hope Fund (Helping Our Patients in Emergencies). The Hope Fund, which is supported entirely by donations from the hospital’s various fundraising events, has made it possible for SJNS to provide walkers, wheelchairs, medication, clothing and even taxi rides home for patients in need. When we had a patient who desperately needed a ramp built, but didn’t have the funds to have the work done, we decided a partnership would benefit everyone. So two years ago a partnership was formed between SJNSH, the L’Anse Creuse Public School District carpentry program at Pankow, and Lee Waeyaert of Consumers Lumber on Groesbeck in Clinton Township.
Now the fruit of this labor of love has appeared once again. As the volunteers gathered at the home of Jeff and Valerie Cleland in Warren, it was evident by the looks of appreciation on the family’s faces that we were helping change their lives. Valerie’s children, Alan (19) and Heather (9) were excited to help give their mother such a unique Mother’s Day gift.
Special recognition needs to go to the students in the Pankow program, who did such a professional job in building the main components of the ramp and to Consumers Lumber in Clinton Township for their generous donation of all wood for this project.
