 The News-Times/Michael Duffy D.J. Christy, 13, Alexandra Willey, 11, Danielle Keeton, 12, and Rose Willey, 13, all of Brookfield, rake leaves as part of the Rake N Bake on Nov. 12. |
The Bradys wanted to help some local senior citizens with their fall cleanup, so the small group raked leaves for two parishioners from St. Joseph's Church and afterward went to a pizza parlor for a celebratory lunch.
Nearly eight years later, not only is Rake N Bake still going strong, it has grown by leaps and bounds. Brady, aka The Handy Dandy Handyman (HDHM), and his family were joined Sunday by nearly 800 other volunteers and raked leaves for 56 people, from Brookfield, Danbury, Bridgewater and New Milford.
Volunteers clad in red T-shirts gathered at 8 a.m. in the Brookfield High School gym, where Brady led the group in a prayer. Participants then broke off into teams and headed to their designated houses.
The majority of clients who receive the cleanup services are senior citizens or people who have handicaps, are widowed, sick or just down on their luck and in need of a little help.Volunteers this year included two youth groups, nine athletic teams from BHS, five church groups, seven scout troops and three neighborhood groups.
There were also 35 people from Cendant Mobility, and a number of individual volunteers who pitched in to help. New Milford resident Susan Slink and her son, Jay, 17, volunteered for the first time this year.
Slink's group consisted of 20 people who covered five acres of land at one house. "We helped a very nice older gentleman, and when we left he thanked us and we all took a picture together. He was really grateful," Slink said.
Norma Fogarty, a 79-year-old retired nurse who has trouble walking, had the yard of her Brookfield home cleaned up for the third year in a row. "They did a wonderful job and it's such a nice service for the community," Fogarty said.
Jacquelyn Letizia, 10, Meghan Letizia, 8, and Molly Russo, 8, who are neighbors, were three of the volunteers who worked on Fogarty's house. This was their first Rake N Bake, but all three say they will do it again next year.
"It was really fun helping people out," Meghan said.
"Plus, we got to throw leaves at each other and ride in the tarp around the yard," Molly said.
The majority of the volunteers returned to the high school between 11 a.m. and noon for a free lunch of hot dogs and drinks courtesy of Brady's brother, Bill, who owns Doc's Dogs hot dog cart. Brookfield resident Bob Elston also supplied hot dogs for many of the volunteers.
All of the clients whose homes are cleaned make baked goods for the volunteers and take them to the school, where everyone mingles.
Rosemarie and Frank Corbin had their yard cleaned for the seventh year in a row. "My husband had been sick at the time I first started, and they did such a wonderful job for us.
"What's great is seeing husbands and wives and their children working together and everyone just working together as a community," Rosemarie Corbin said.
Thirteen-year-old Nicole Bullard, a Girl Scout from Danbury, came with Troops 307 and 622 and helped out for the second year in a row.
"It was a great experience to help people with their yards who aren't able to do it themselves, and working with all of these different people in the community was really nice, too," Bullard said.
Brady's HDHM Ministry handed out two awards at the end of the day for the Most Valuable Volunteer of the year. Bridgewater resident Steve Greene and Brookfield resident Chris Bader were the recipients of those awards.
Brady was thrilled with the outcome of the event, calling it "One of the most successful community-service events in Connecticut history."
"Look at this — isn't this amazing?" he said, gesturing to the sea of red shirts that filled the BHS gym after the raking. "What a day!"
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