The neighborhood of McKownville stepped up again to help a family struggling with storm damage expenses, but there is still a lot of work and many expenses to deal with.
The McKownville Improvement Association organized a fundraising picnic at Sutter’s Mill Restaurant for the Plant family, whose home sustained severe rainwater damage during a July 24 storm. The family’s insurance does not cover this type of damage.
Neighbors and friends pulled together to help the Plants, who live at 29 Providence St., clean up the initial damage, and now those neighbors and friends are looking to help with the financial costs of the storm.
Laura Plant said the family is grateful for the help and money they have already received, but they are still are living with remnants of the storm damage.
There is still quite a bit to do, but we’re getting there, Laura Plant said. `We still don’t have any basement windows, and our driveway is still ripped up.
She also said the deck and stoop are in need of repairs.
`We are trying to cut back on the expenses and trying not to go out of pocket if we don’t have to,` she said.
Some of the damage to the Plant’s home included the basement wall caving in, as well as damage to the deck and exterior of the house.
The Sunday, Aug. 24, `Neighbor to Neighbor` event at Sutter’s Mill featured picnic-style food, including hot dogs and salads. Tickets were sold at $10 each, and the proceeds went directly to the Plants.
Don Reeb, the President of the McKownville Improvement Association and one of the primary organizers of the fundraising efforts to help the Plants, said the final numbers have not been tabulated, but he estimates they raised between $1,500 and $2,000.
`It was a wonderful day to be there. People were laughing and having a very good time,` Reeb said.
Reeb said the event allowed the Plant family to have at least a little `relief and release,` from their financial woes.
A new wall for their basement, a new drainage pipe, material expenses, food for the friends and family volunteering to help get the house in order and labor to excavate the backyard deck are all part of the costs the family incurred.
Fundraising efforts from Saint Margaret Mary’s Church, where the three oldest Plant children are altar servers, raised $6,000 for the family. The McKownville Fire Department also raised $600 for the family.
Fundraising efforts from Cheer Intensity, a cheerleading group that the Plants’ daughter is in, and their neighbors Mickey Cleary and Dave Bosworth are also ongoing.
Assemblyman Jack McEneny, D-Albany, showed his support for the family at Sutter’s Mill Restaurant, as well as many of the area’s businesses and the Guilderland Chamber of Commerce.
Help also came from town officials, who voted at their Tuesday, Aug. 19, meeting, to waive the building permit fee that is normally associated with any construction on a home.
Town Supervisor Ken Runion said the town usually waives the fee in circumstances where the home is damaged as a result of a storm or natural event.
Based on the Plant’s circumstances and amount of work being done on the house, the fee could have been close to $300 he said. “