Labor of Love press release
Early on Oct. 17, a beautiful Saturday morning, a team of Athens Rotary Club members and five young men from the TVCC cheer team joined forces with the Labor of Love to build a 37-foot-long wheelchair ramp for Mr. Weston Lane. Weston has been in and out of hospitals for the last four years in poor health. Three months ago it was discovered that he has a rare form of cancer. Gloria and Weston were married in 2002, between them they have two daughters, Nicole and Daria, and one son, Joseph. Gloria was born and raised in Malakoff on the exact same property where the family home now sits.
The Athens TVCC cheer team members were Malachi Edwards, Florida, Matthew Torres, Houston, Torrey Ollison, Grand Saline, Keegan Schaar, Chicago and Zachary Neal from California. The team is practicing especially hard this year since they have placed second for the last five years in a row at the national level. Some would say that is an amazing achievement but their sights are set on being number one this time around!
The Rotary Club members were: Aaron Lemmon, president, Kelly Driskell, Randy Jones, Donna Meredith, her daughter, Chloe Wright, Donna Chiles sitting in for her husband, Anthony, who is ill at the moment and their daughter Katie Chiles.
Henderson County and the City of Athens in particular are very fortunate to have many civic minded clubs and organizations. One outstanding example is the Athens Rotary Club. “The lives of the members of the Athens Rotary are guided by their motto of “Service above Self” … this spirit drives their helping in the community and participating as volunteers in many local organizations,” said Aaron Lemmon, Athens Rotary Club president.
Athens Rotary was chartered in February 1927 and they currently have approximately 70 active members. The members guiding principles are: 1) Is it the Truth? 2) Is it FAIR to all concerned? 3) Will it build GOOD Will and better FRIENDSHIPS? and 4) Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned? If we all applied these precepts/principles to our own lives, the world would be a much better place. The members meet every Thursday at noon in the Athens Country Club. Their biggest fund raising event is the annual golf tournament held each year in October. This event plus individual contributions enables them to fund seven (7) local non-profit groups. For more years than anyone can remember the Athens Rotary Club has been a faithful and generous sponsor of the Labor of Love … thank you!
Henderson County can take great pride in having people like the men and women from Athens Rotary and the young men from TVCC cheer team. They were guided by a Labor of Love crew consisting of: Larry Brim. Johnny Rodgers, Phil Tucker all under the watchful eye of Wade Feemster, LOL project manager. The ramp was completed with handrails on both sides. Gloria said, “This is a blessing.” The family was thrilled with the final result. Their smiles say it all.
“The Labor of Love (LOL) is very thankful for the faithful funding supplied by the Athens Rotary over many years. LOL is a United Way agency of Henderson County and a faith-based volunteer organization with a mission to provide home repairs free of charge to the handicap, indigent elderly, single mothers and grandmothers raising grandchildren across Henderson County, Texas. Examples of repair or modification of homes made year round include: construction of wheelchair ramps, installing grab bars, widening bathroom entrances, repairing leaking faucets and roofs, holes in floors and windows, etc. We have over 25 years of home repair experience with a focus on health and safety issues” said Wade Feemster, LOL Project Manager. Whilst you may prefer to contact Edens Structural Solutions for foundation-related repairs, we can assist you with a number of other issues.
“We take great pride in our 2014 accomplishments. Our all volunteer organization worked hard, long hours in good weather and bad … expending 3,417 hours to complete 161 projects. Included was the construction of 33 wheelchair ramps and the repair or replacement of 33 roofing projects,” said Feemster.
He continued, “Our accomplishments are due to: a) God has blessed us with the financial means to continue growing through the faithfulness and generosity of our sponsors, and b) willing volunteers. Henderson County is fortunate to have such dedicated and willing people who like the men and women from Athens Rotary Club give of their time and treasure to help the less fortunate within our community.”
The Labor of Love serves the people of Henderson County from Chandler to Trinidad. If you need assistance, call 903-675-LOVE and ask for an application to be mailed to you … they’ll take it from there. If you would like to join the team of volunteers, please call the same number and request a phone call.
