On Saturday, September 5, in the Tri-Town, a small, determined group set out to do a good deed. With smiles and tools in hand, they spent the day installing a metal ramp at a home for a neighbor with mobility issues who needed better access.
The group is part of the Mattapoisett Lions Club, a 60-member local organization involved in acts of service throughout the Tri-Town and beyond.
When the Marion Health & Human Services office reached out to the club with an urgent need for a wheelchair ramp, they got to work.
“We love to do things like this; it gives us camaraderie and a feeling of doing something good in the community,” said Paul Stubbs, president of the Mattapoisett Lions Club.
In about three weeks, they procured a used ramp at half the price of a new one, approved the spending at an August board meeting, and installed it.
“Wheelchair ramps have become expensive. In the past, you only needed $400 to $500 [to purchase one], and guys who knew what they were doing,” he said.
That isn’t the case anymore. A typical wheelchair ramp costs between $4,000 and $7,000, Stubbs said. “That’s expensive for someone with an illness or low income.”
He said the club prefers metal ramps because wooden ones deteriorate over time, adding that the group is seeking donations.
On that Saturday, Lions Club members including Jeremy Caswell, Bruce Rocha, Jeffrey Swift, Ron Ellis, Fred Avery, and others offered help with enthusiasm and plenty of banter. Connie Hayes donated coffee and donuts that kept the crew fueled.
“Caswell let us use his trailer. We needed to cut the steel with his own grinder. We couldn’t have done it without him,” he said.
Stubbs said he has been president since the end of June; he was last president in 1994. He said they would love to get younger members to join the club.
“We’re a lot of fun; we help a lot. It’s a great society to be involved with. I’ve been doing this for 42 years, and I’m not the oldest one in the club,” Stubbs said. He added it’s also great for networking and meeting influential people in town.
He said the club — part of the much larger Lions Club International with 1.4 million members worldwide — does meaningful work in the spirit of disability rights activist Helen Keller. In particular, the organization focuses its efforts on supporting people with blindness or eye diseases; it partners with Mass Eye and Ear, a Mass General Brigham member based in Boston.
Other assistance includes providing eyeglasses and hearing aids, donating to local food pantries, and collecting goods for local service members and women serving overseas.
“Whatever your skill or interest in giving back to the local community or internationally, we have a place for you,” Stubbs said.
By Laura Pedulli