TAMAQUA, Pa. -- Volunteers from a church in Schuylkill County will be out and about in Tamaqua this week working on projects for those in need.
The rain may have been coming down on this gloomy day in Tamaqua, but that did not stop some volunteers from putting in work to make a difference.
"There's a lot of needs in Tamaqua. There's a lot of people that have some needs and need some help," said Pastor Kevin Roberts, Bethany Evangelical Church.
For about the past 10 years, members of Bethany Evangelical Church have gone on mission trips to Kentucky. But this year, they decided to stay home in Tamaqua for a series of projects in the community.
It's called Restore 2019, and the big project is the construction of a new deck and ramp for a former Marine and his wife.
"This gentleman is a veteran and his wife has MS. Their porch got in disrepair to the point that they can't use it any longer. And she cannot get out of the house because she's wheelchair-bound, so they definitely need some help," said Cheryl Nemeth, Restore 2019 director.
"In order for her to get out of the house, it was necessary for her husband or someone else to literally carry her out and to get her down to the level ground where she can be mobile," said Pastor Roberts.
"We're going to build a porch. Off that porch, we're going to build a ramp. That ramp is going to be about 48 feet long. It's going to make a couple turns and come down to the bottom of the yard, so she can actually get into a vehicle and be taken away in a neat way," said construction coordinator Paul Nemeth.
Church members will also do landscaping work for an elderly woman, hold camps for children, and do a cleanup project in the borough. This is all made possible thanks to fundraising and donations.
"Sometimes we take the simplest things for granted, and now we have a lady here who wants to get out of her house. There's not a better opportunity to help somebody like that," said Nemeth.
The church has about 20 volunteers pulling double shifts every day to get these projects done by the end of the week, barring any bad weather.