Rotary donates $1,000 to family in need

Kathrine Alderman
ECB Publishing, Inc.

Doing something good for those in the community is what charitable organizations are all about. The Rotary Club here in Monticello is no different. Like most charitable organizations, they have scholarships that help students, they participate in projects that help others or the environment and they sometimes will give money or services when there is a need that must be met.

Recently, they were made aware of a couple whose house was basically destroyed and needed a lot of help fixing it up and getting back on their feet. The Oder's house was severely damaged when a tree fell through it during Hurricane Michael. The older couple, not wanting to leave their home, continued to live there, even though the conditions were awful. After their living conditions were discovered by the Sheriff's department, Jefferson County Emergency Management started working to help them, along with other organizations in town.

To do their part to help, the Monticello Rotary Club decided to donate $1,000 to the family to help with their needs. They donated this money at their March 26 meeting, where Paula Carroll, with Emergency Management, and Dean Jerger, a representative of Eagles Wings food pantry, accepted the big check to give to the Oder's.

Jerger and Carroll told the Rotary Club a little more about what's been happening at the Oder's house and what the situation is like for them. As mentioned, a tree fell through their house during Hurricane Michael. They lived in that situation for well over two years, and they were only discovered by the Sheriff's Department in October of 2020.
Once they were discovered, though, people got to work helping. They already have a new roof, as Jerger said that Catholic Charities came in and put a new shingle roof on. Due to the water that came in before the roof could be rebuilt, though, many things in the house were destroyed. The couple does have disabilities, and it is harder for them to do things. Jerger said that having 15 to 20 people around their house working can get a little concerning and confusing for them. Still, they're all working through it to try and help the Oder's get back on their feet.

"It's a joy," Jerger said, "to me, to be part of this community. In so many different situations, this community steps up." Many agencies, organizations and churches within Jefferson County have already stepped up and are involved in this process of helping the Oder's. Jerger says what they try to do is go out there every couple of weeks and take care of the next section of the house. Hopefully, they'll put back the bedroom the Saturday after Easter; after that, they'll be tearing out the bathroom and then the biggest job will be working on the living room. They anticipate the project, as a whole, could take about a year to complete.

Along with rebuilding, they've also found some new furniture for them, as the furniture they had was old and a lot of it unusable due to the water that came into the house. As with anything you didn't expect to lose, it is hard for the Oder's to let go of some of their belongings, even if they can't use them anymore. "Overall, it's a great thing our community is doing," Jerger said. However, what scares him the most is the fear that there are more people like the Oder's out there, and no one knows about it. He wants to work on figuring out how to keep their eyes open for issues like that so that they can help them as well.

Besides just fixing up their house, Eagles Wings, the food pantry that Jerger works with, brings the Oder's a box of food after the Eagles Wings food distributions, which take place on the first and third Wednesday every month.
After telling the Rotary Club everything that was going on, Jerger and Carroll thanked the club greatly for their donation. They're sure they'll be coming back with an update on the situation so the Rotary Club can see how their donation is being put to good use.

The club then gathered around and presented the check to Jerger and Carrol. After the two answered a few more questions, the club moved on to other club business for the day, and the meeting closed.

The Rotary Club meets every Friday at the Monticello-Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce, located at 420 W. Washington St., for lunch and a meeting. They start serving lunch at 11:45, but the meetings start at noon.