A disabled Navy veteran in Minnesota has a new ramp and a new flag pole thanks to the efforts of local community groups.
Bob McReynolds, 67, got a new deck with a ramp and a flag pole. Family Service Rochester and Two Rivers Habitat for Humanity built them, according to Fox News.
The Vietnam veteran had been having some trouble navigating the stairs to his house and getting to his doctor’s appointments.
KAAL-TV reported that a grant from Meals on Wheels of America and the Home Depot Foundation paid for the project.
“He served the country, he put a lot of work into it, we don’t want him to be struggling the rest of his life with him just going in and out of his house,” Alfonso Burton, construction manager for Two Rivers Habitat for Humanity, told KAAL-TV. “So we wanted to relieve some of that pain.”
Byron and Kasson-Mantorville Lions Clubs also participated in the project, KIMT-TV reported.
They built the new deck, complete with a ramp for the disabled so McReynolds to get in and out of the house more easily. Then the groups surprised McReynolds with a new flag pole.
“It’s amazing, especially at this time of day… people aren’t as giving, and these guys — giving like you can’t believe,” McReynolds’s wife Janice told KIMT-TV. “And they’re a blessing. A definite blessing.”
The old flag pole had been vandalized and pushed over by local youths.
“It’s a relief off my shoulders,” Janice added. “You know, not worrying about him falling down because he couldn’t navigate the stairs at all. I am so appreciative for all the work that everyone’s done.”
