Giving a helping hand.....

Shiner Rotary Club builds wheelchair accessible ramp

  • Ramp construction
    Ramp construction
  • more work being done
    more work being done
  • Members of the Shiner Rotary Club, Texas Ramp Project and a few student volunteers work to build a ramp for a local resident. This is the second ramp that the Shiner Rotary has assisted the Texas Ramp Project in building. Volunteers called it a “great fellowship for a great cause.” Pictured in forefront are Melanie Nevlud, Greg Murrile and Kara Remschel.
    Members of the Shiner Rotary Club, Texas Ramp Project and a few student volunteers work to build a ramp for a local resident. This is the second ramp that the Shiner Rotary has assisted the Texas Ramp Project in building. Volunteers called it a “great fellowship for a great cause.” Pictured in forefront are Melanie Nevlud, Greg Murrile and Kara Remschel.
  • Kade and Alex Remschel working
    Kade and Alex Remschel working

    The Shiner Rotary Club in conjunction with the Texas Ramp Project built a handicapped wheelchair accessible ramp for a woman on Memorial Day weekend.
    “This project started last year around Christmas time,” Rotary Club member Alex Remschel said. “We were looking for opportunities to do something impactful within our community and the ramp project was one of the ideas that was brought up. We had a blast last year when we did it. 
    We stepped in and not only funded this project, but we brought in all the workers as well. The Texas Ramp Project people normally handle all the work, but this was an opportunity within the club to do something other than lunch on Wednesday.”
    The Texas Ramp Project is a non-profit organization that builds over 2,400 ramps a year. They build these ramps for low-income disabled or elderly people who can’t otherwise afford to buy one. Ramps are built with volunteer labor, keeping costs to a minimum.
    “The project is a non-profit, but in the branch here, a lot of the organizations are associated with folks from Sts. Cyril Methodius and Catholic Church,” Remschel said.  “The resident we built the ramp for had recently fallen four times going up and down the stairs into her home. We really just wanted to contribute to someone locally who was having some struggles.The homeowner went up and down the ramp twice after we built it. It’s a very large ramp, and it took us about three and a half hours. We also built the guardrails.”
    The project cost around $1,000 and about ten to 15 people volunteered for this including three students.
    “This is a great way to give back to the community,” Rotary Club member Jeff Pesek said. “Any time you’re giving somebody mobility back, then you’re essentially giving them a piece of freedom back.”
    Since the Rotary Club started doing this project, they have built two ramps for individuals in the area, and they aim to build more in the future. 
    The individual the Rotary Club built this ramp for applied on the Texas Ramp Project website. Those in need of a ramp in the Shiner area or those wanting to donate to this project can do so at www.texasramps.org. 
    “We would definitely do this again,” Remschel said. “As Rotarians, we aim to serve the community. It takes people acting and giving back that makes these small towns great.”
    There are about a little over 20 people in the Rotary Club. The club welcomes all individuals who want to sign up and serve the community.