More volunteers needed to help shovel

John Howell
Posted 2/19/15

Sometimes the worst of conditions brings out the best in people.

That’s what Bernie Beaudreau, executive director of Serve Rhode Island, is seeing in the wake of the January blizzard and the …

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More volunteers needed to help shovel

Posted

Sometimes the worst of conditions brings out the best in people.

That’s what Bernie Beaudreau, executive director of Serve Rhode Island, is seeing in the wake of the January blizzard and the storms that have followed.

Serve Rhode Island, which matches volunteers with jobs that need to be done, has been hit hard with snow shoveling requests since Jan. 28. That first storm generated 1,200 requests, a daunting task for the agency’s core group of 150 volunteers.

But as it turned out, by the time Serve Rhode Island was able to mobilize, about half of those who placed calls had been helped by neighbors and friends and family. Beaudreau has seen that trend continue. People are helping each other. With the progression in storms he has also witnessed a change in attitude, with people being more accepting of conditions and not as panicked by the snow.

“People seem to be hanging in,” he said.

It would seem people are also watching out for themselves.

“Every storm I’ve been checking,” James Beardsworth, spokesman at Kent Hospital, said Tuesday, “and each time it’s been pretty quiet.”

Beardsworth said the hospital hasn’t experienced an increase in accidents such as falls or heart attacks attributable to over exertion.

“We haven’t seen any patterns,” he said.

Likewise, Meg Underwood, Warwick’s director of senior services, hasn’t heard of any accidents either. She said her staff has been sending out advisories about the dangers of extreme weather conditions.

She said seniors are often “more sensitive” to bitter cold. As for conditions outside the Pilgrim Senior Center, Underwood praised the work of Department of Public Works crews. To her knowledge, there haven’t been any falls or injuries related to conditions around the center.

“They’ve kept it very clean,” she said of city crews.

Police, on the other hand, have seen an increase in the numbers of automobile accidents. Warwick Police Sgt. Earl Read of the traffic division said that between Jan. 28 and Feb. 17 last year there were 278 motor vehicles accidents in the city, of which 49 occurred when there was blowing snow, sleet or hail.

For the same period this year, he said, there were 317 accidents, of which 77 were reported with snow conditions, four in blowing snow and one in sleet.

Beaudreau said successive storms have tested Serve Rhode Island volunteers. Some have done as many as eight and 10 shoveling jobs in a single day.

“There’s a lot of soreness. They work themselves sore,” he said of some volunteers.

Recent appeals for more volunteers resulted in an additional 200 recruits. Beaudreau said before the newest volunteers are matched with a job, a background check is performed and availability is confirmed.

Still, he said, Serve Rhode Island can use more people.

“We do need a lot more on our list,” he said. Beaudreau urged people wanting to assist to visit serverhodeisland.org and register online.

With the prolonged cold and buildup of snow, Beaudreau said ice dams with water backing up behind shingles causing leaks are the latest concern. Many volunteers, he said, are not equipped to deal with ice dams, and he has turned to the Rhode Island Department of Emergency Management for assistance. He said Serve Rhode Island is also receiving calls from people fearing their roofs can’t sustain all this snow. Those needing assistance should call Serve Rhode Island at 331-2298.

Beaudreau also remarked on the hesitance of some people to seek help.

“Some people are resisting to ask for help,” he said, describing how one man had been stuck at home for 19 days before seeking assistance.

As for the team of volunteers, Beaudreau said, “it is a wonderful thing to be a part of. I haven’t received a single complaint from a volunteer.”

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