MILLINGTON — When Rebuilding Together Kent County’s Executive Director Genevieve Croker received a call from Chick-fil-A Regional Facilities Manager Kevin Hiden, she wasn’t sure if she would be able to accommodate Hiden’s volunteer group.
Hiden, who has a home near Rock Hall, had been chatting with a friend in the area about his employer’s commitment to giving back to the community and asked if there was a nearby nonprofit that could be a good fit.
The friend, Cathy, thought of RTKC and its work to ensure more of our neighbors live in safe and healthy homes.
She put Hiden in touch with Croker and, after several conversations, they found the ideal project for the Chick-fil-A volunteers: clearing out the home of a senior living in Millington.
One day earlier this month, 17 volunteers from up and down the Eastern Seaboard gathered at VFW Memorial Post #652 near Millington to get their marching orders and their personal protective equipment.
With some volunteers flying in from Atlanta that morning, the group wasn’t able to start until 11 a.m.
Though the temperature climbed to uncomfortable heights, and ultimately the heat index reached triple digits, this did not deter the volunteers. With pop tents for shade, regular rest breaks and about six dozen bottles of chilled water, the group of Chick-fil-A employees handled the task at hand.
With respect for the the resident’s belongings, the volunteers removed anything that couldn’t be salvaged and carefully wrapped and boxed what was going back in the home.
In all, they were able to clear unsalvageable items from bedrooms, the kitchen, living and dining rooms, enabling Rebuilding Together’s team to determine what the next repairs would be for this home.
Without this volunteer-driven effort, further evaluation would likely have stalled until much later in 2024, according to Croker.
“In addition to the trust of our neighbors and the generous donation of lunch space and bathroom access from the VFW, Rebuilding Together Kent County is grateful that these kind and caring strangers came into our community and left as new friends,” Croker said in a news release.
Hiden added, “This was a great way to bring together people from all over the East Coast to get to know each other in person and engage in a really meaningful team-building activity.”
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To learn more about ways to get involved — from repairs, to sharing program information at events, to administering the RTKC countywide housing survey — email volunteer@rtkc.org.
Rebuilding Together Kent County’s mission is repairing homes, revitalizing communities, rebuilding lives.
The nonprofit leverages gifts of time, money, skill and labor to repair and rehabilitate homes for income-eligible seniors, veterans, those living with disabilities and families with children in Kent County.
All work is done at no cost to homeowners who meet the eligibility criteria.
This is an equal opportunity program.
RTKC is dedicated to ending substandard housing.
To learn more, see www.rebuildingtogetherkcmd.org.
