When Alfred Walker, 64, wants to go outside to enjoy the warm summer weather, all he has to do now is roll out his back door.
With a below-the-knee amputation due to a long battle with Type 2 diabetes, Walker can’t walk down his back steps. But thanks to the Master Builders Care Foundation, he and two other wheelchair-bound Kent residents now have brand-new ramps to make life on wheels a little bit better.
Walker, Irma Massey and Mary Tkaczyk were beneficiaries of the foundation’s 15th annual Rampathon event May 17, receiving wheelchair access ramps custom-built by volunteers from area home-improvement companies.
“I just want to thank Master Builders and the people that came out here and did the work,” Walker said. “I really appreciated it.”
The Kent man and Washington native, who has battled with diabetes for about 30 years, lost his leg in 2000. He said he has made do with an out-of-date wheelchair ramp for years because a newer one was out of his budget.
Walker’s daughter told him about Rampathon last year, but his first application to the program was too late. He applied again this year and was connected with Josh Brookshier, sales manager for Kitchen Plus in Bellevue.
Brookshier acted as the Kent man’s “ramp captain” on the project, recruiting a team of volunteers from his company and coordinating their efforts to design and construct the ramp. This is his second year participating in the project, he said, and it holds personal meaning to him.
“I personally wanted to get involved because I have a disabled sister, so I understand the need for wheelchair ramps,” Brookshier said. “It’s just something that hits close to home.”
Master Builders provides teams with a certain amount of plywood, but it’s up to each team to design and construct the ramp, providing all other necessary tools and materials. It took the team of 15 Kitchen Plus employees less than three hours May 17 to complete the project. Walker was pleased with the result.
“They built a very nice ramp,” the Kent man said. “I was very happy.”
And Brookshier said he and his volunteers also got a lot out of the event.
“To me it’s a double whammy,” Brookshier said. “It’s a nice way for us to give back to the community, and we get to have a great team-building experience. We have a lot of fun with it.”
The Master Builders Foundation is a philanthropic arm of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties.
Since 1993, foundation volunteers have designed and constructed 230 free wheelchair access ramps for low-income, disabled homeowners in King and Snohomish Counties.
Free access ramps also were constructed May 17 for disabled persons in Burien, Snohomish, Everett, Redmond, Enumclaw, Mill Creek, Seatac, Shoreline, Lynnwood, Issaquah, Seattle, Monroe, Brier and Kirkland. Additional disabled ramp recipients will be announced in the coming weeks.
For more information about the organization, visit www.mba-ks.com.
Contact Daniel Mooney at 253-437-6012 or dmooney@reporternewspapers.com.
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