United Way to organize groups for ice storm debris cleanups

By Carrie Coppernoll

Published: January 2, 2008

Ruby Smith can't imagine her yard looking normal again. The ice storm last month snapped tree limbs all over her property, leaving the 70-year-old Oklahoma City woman wondering how she'd clean up the mess.

So far she's had help from several folks: friends from church, relatives and even a neighbor who rented a lift to get the tallest branches. But the job has been huge, and Smith has had to do a lot of work herself, mostly hauling branches to the curb.

"I live back away from the street,” she said. "It's so hard for me to get them to the curb, but I'm getting them, slow but sure.”

Senior citizens like Smith will soon receive help, said Bob Spinks, president of the United Way of Central Oklahoma. The United Way is organizing community groups for a one-day clean-up this month.

So far, the Boy Scouts have agreed to help, and Spinks is working to sign up other groups. Details of the cleanup will be announced soon, he said. But seniors, the ill, the disabled and others who need help can call 211 and ask to be added to the United Way's storm cleanup list, he said.

Organizing cleanups like this one have been difficult because so many tree experts are busy working, said Don Hudman, director of the District 8 Areawide Aging Agency.

Many people are sympathetic, he said, but the workload is too demanding right now.

"It's not that they don't have a heart,” he said. "They've just accepted all the work they can.”

Smith said she wouldn't be able to hire landscapers even if they were available. She lives on Social Security and Medicare benefits. She said she plans to add her name to the aid list and to keep doing what she can in her yard.

Comments