MINNEAPOLIS — Even if the Halloween snow that Mother Nature left on Twin Cities doorsteps Monday morning turns out to be a short-lived trick, it was still more than enough to scare up plenty of calls to Senior Community Services.
"Our phones have definitely been ringing," said Jon Burkhow, director of household and outside maintenance for the Hennepin County nonprofit. "The snow falls and the anxiety rises, unfortunately, for a lot of people who are homebound or who need to make sure that they can get in and out of their house safely."
Jon Burkhow hopes to help more than 350 Hennepin County seniors find help clearing snow from their sidewalks and driveways this winter, but after weeks soliciting volunteers and even advertising for seasonal contractors who can make $20 an hour to clear snow with flexible hours, he says more than 200 of those seniors have yet to be paired up.
Now Burkhow says they are in the unfortunate position of turning down new requests for help.
Burkhow: "We had to cut it off just because our waitlist is so big. We feel it's not fair to tell people they can get added to the list because we're working so hard on finding help for those who have already reached out."
Kent Erdahl: "Somebody might be watching and thinking, I don't know what I'm signing up for. How far am I going to have to go in order to shovel and make this kind of a commitment. What would you tell them?"
Burkhow: "We have need all across Hennepin County, so if you live in Bloomington or Minneapolis, we have an older adult in your city for sure, maybe not that far from your home, so usually people don't have to drive very far. We're looking for you to commit to that person for the winter, so when it snows you go out and do your own snow removal, probably, and then go and shovel for the person that you've agreed to help."
Erdahl: "During last year's record snow, you put out an emergency call out for volunteers to help shovel. Did you see response?"
Burkhow: "Oh yeah, we saw people responding. We had several people who ended up volunteering with us. Many of them are back again, but still it wasn't enough. Maybe we'll get a little earlier start this year, with this Halloween trick mother nature is playing on us. I know there are people willing to help out there. We'll pay people, if they want to volunteer, whatever they want to do we're happy to have them. We just need the help."
For information on how you can help clear snow for seniors in Hennepin County, click here.
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