As most of you know, WRAP was invited to partner with the Greater Cedar Rapids Housing and Building Association (GCRHBA), this spring for the Parade of Homes.

The organization asked WRAP to provide volunteers to sell tickets at various parade homes during the event. In return for that assistance, the GCRHBA included WRAP in its video and printed promotional materials and donated a portion of the funds from ticket sales to WRAP.

Our volunteers sold tickets at many of the Parade Homes throughout the five days of the event. This partnership provided WRAP with some amazing public awareness opportunities to distribute WRAP promotional materials to a brand-new audience. These benefits were priceless, but when the check for a whopping $5,000 was awarded to WRAP, it was a magic moment for all of us!

Many thanks to Melissa Olson of GCRHBA for collaborating to build the framework for this new volunteer opportunity and thank you to everyone who volunteered for this event.  Angie worked diligently to find volunteers to cover all the shifts. WRAP President Angela Berns and many others contributed to all the promotional materials and got them distributed to the various Parade Homes. Even though we had short notice for this opportunity, Melissa and Angie took immediate action and it all paid off.

Here is the magic moment when the check was presented to a stunned, Angie at the Parade of Homes cocktail party.

Angie also shared a very touching story of one of our WRAP recipients. The presenters included Jim Sattler, past president of GCRHBA, and Melissa Olson, GC RHBA, Executive Officer.

WOW, $5,000 for WRAP!

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The 2022 WRAP appreciation breakfast was held, on May 26, 2022, at the Eagle Ridge Community Room located at 1285 Red Fox Way in Marion, from 8:30 to 10:00 am.

It was a full house with thirty-nine energetic attendees, representing the majority of WRAP volunteers. The camaraderie was evident in the room as were the smiles and kindness of the volunteers and organizers. There was a team-like bond throughout the group, and everyone enjoyed the event.

Organized by Angie Ehle, WRAP Coordinator, with the collaboration of Angela Berns, St. Luke’s Manager of Volunteer Services. The food was delicious, and it was a great chance for the volunteers to get together for a little fun and for WRAP organizers to extend their appreciation to the attendees.

After breakfast, Angie gave an overview of the WRAP activities and projects, for the past year, she said it was good to be able to have live events, as the last breakfast was in 2019, just before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. She noted that there have been over 550 volunteer hours completed by WRAP volunteers so far in 2022 and discussed the upcoming events and builds. Angela also spoke to the group noting that WRAP hit a milestone when it turned 18 years old in April of this year and noted that they had come a very long way since 2004. She also extended her appreciation and praise for Angie, the lone WRAP employee. She recognized that Angie always goes the extra mile for the organization and noted that Angie wears many hats for WRAP. She serves not only as the day-to-day coordinator, but also as the recruiter of community businesses and organizations who partner with WRAP. Whether getting them on board with donations, promoting awareness about WRAP, or scheduling one day labor teams, she does so much more than many were unaware of. Every donation of funds, time, or talent were noted and appreciated.

After the event was over, I had the opportunity to speak with Ron Tonneson, “RonTon,” as the group affectionately calls him, who is one of the original WRAP volunteers. He told me that his goal is to participate in 500 WRAP projects before he retires. I will be doing a story soon spotlighting Ron including more details about his career with WRAP, and why he loves volunteering. Watch for that in July.

As volunteers prepared to leave, everyone was given an attractive leather-bound notebook with the WRAP logo on the front, and a WRAP pen as a token of appreciation for all the hours that each individual has given.

Below are some pictures we wanted to share!

Until the next event or post, stay well and keep WRAP in mind if you or someone you know would like to donate or volunteer. Call (319)270-7294 or visit our website at www.wrapiowa.org.

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By Jodi Harris

Meet Susan Pohlman, a kind-hearted woman, who has given so much of her time and talent to our community. Her smile is genuine, and she is the person everyone would love to spend time with. Full of energy, she welcomed me into her beautiful home, and I instantly felt comfortable.

She is a WRAP volunteer and board member and so much more! Born and raised in the small town of Austin in southern Minnesota, she still loves her home state very much. She and her husband own a second home on the lake, in the town of Prior Lake, which is about 90 minutes from her hometown. She and her family love the outdoors and enjoy their pontoon boat, kayaking, and other outdoor activities when they are there.

Susan and her husband, David, have one daughter, Julia, who is 24 years old and lives in Minneapolis. She is an Account Manager for a retail services agency.

Susan began volunteering as a stay-at-home mom while raising Julia. She enjoyed helping at her daughter’s schools for many years. She gave her time and talent to Arthur Elementary; Franklin Middle School and Washington High School as Julia grew. Susan served as the Volunteer Coordinator at Arthur Elementary and Franklin Middle Schools and continued her involvement at Washington High School as a co-leader of the band parent’s group. She said she genuinely enjoyed supporting her daughter throughout her school years.

Over the years since Julia graduated from high school, Susan has volunteered for a variety of organizations. When Julia was in college, she was an intern for The Zach Johnson Foundation, and Susan volunteered there too. She currently volunteers for the Fur Fun Dog Rescue where she drives dogs to veterinarian appointments and takes them back to their foster homes. She previously enjoyed volunteering at the Heartland Greyhound Adoption Chapter in Cedar Rapids, where she often transported retired Greyhounds from Dubuque to Cedar Rapids to their new forever homes. Susan has always enjoyed working with the elderly and has been a volunteer for Aging Services for years. She drives elderly people to appointments often too.

Susan’s biggest inspiration to join WRAP is her mother, Kay, who lives in Austin, Minnesota with her stepfather. Her mom is handicapped due to a bicycle accident which created a sudden need for safe home access. She was fortunate to have already had a home that was handicap accessible, but many others are not so fortunate and cannot afford to hire a contractor to build a ramp for them. So, Susan was inspired to help build ramps for those in need.

She loves the flexibility of being a community volunteer so she can be free to visit her mom often and help with her care.

Her hobbies include building and home improvement projects around her homes. She and her husband work together as a team, and she loves seeing a project come together. This is another reason volunteering for WRAP was so appealing to her. She loves working on builds, learning new skills, and getting to know other WRAP volunteers better. She recently joined the Board of Directors for WRAP, too.

If you, your group, or anyone you know would like to volunteer, the WRAP website is listed below, along with the other organizations that are noted in this story. WRAP can use your donation of time, talent, building materials, and funds to help as many people gain accessibility to the world as possible.

www.wrapiowa.org

https://www.zachjohnsongolf.com/Foundation.aspx

https://www.heritageaaa.org/volunteer

www.furfunrescue.org

The post Volunteer Spotlight! appeared first on WRAP.

Help restore freedom and a sense of empowerment to your neighbors throughout Linn, Johnson, Benton, and Jones Counties. Support the Wheelchair Ramp Accessibility Program (WRAP), which builds ramps and stairs for people of all ages — from children to senior citizens.

Your gift of time, talent, or treasure may benefit people who:

• Survived an accident
• Had a leg or foot amputated
• Live with a chronic illness

How to Support Us

Choose the approach that’s best for you or your organization:

• Making a donation—Give materials, funds to buy materials, or meals for volunteers
• Volunteering—Step up as an individual or group to design a ramp, provide manual labor, or offer administrative and marketing support

The post Ways to Give appeared first on WRAP.

Some people truly have giving hearts. Tom Lage and his grandson Quinn Leland are extraordinary volunteers, and our volunteer spotlight shines on them this month.

Tom, a longtime volunteer for WRAP and Habitat for Humanity, invited his grandson, Quinn, to get an idea of what helping others felt like. In December of 2021, they worked on a wheelchair ramp build together and it was a fun and memorable experience for both.

“Being able to give something of yourself, your time and talent, to do something for someone who really needs it, makes you feel great!”  

Tom

Quinn, 15, a freshman at Washington High School in Cedar Rapids, had taken a construction class at school and volunteering for WRAP was a great chance to use his new skills.

The entire family are givers of their time and talent. Tom’s wife, Mary Rose, a retired first-grade teacher, volunteers as a religious education assistant for the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program at St. Patrick’s Church (preschool program), and granddaughter, Grace, also enjoys helping with the kids as a volunteer. Tom contributes by making items for the program whenever needed.

Tom’s daughter, Abby, Quinn’s mom, and dad, Hunter, volunteer for the Junior RoughRider’s Hockey organization. Hunter also serves on the Board of Directors for the RoughRider Hockey Club (RRHC) and is a volunteer mentor on the McKinley STEAM Academy Robotics Team. So, it is only natural that Quinn would have a giving heart too.

Tom, values education and holds two master’s degrees. The first is in Air Ocean Science and the second in Strategic Studies. He initially graduated from Iowa State University in 1975, married Mary Rose in 1976, and then served in the Navy for the next 20 years.

During his Naval career, he had the privilege of serving in Guam, MI, Norfolk, VA, Monterey, CA, and Suitland, MD. His most memorable tour was serving as the Weatherman/Oceanographer on the USS Theodore Roosevelt on its maiden voyage, for two years.

In 1996, the family moved back to Cedar Rapids so the kids could finish school here. Abby, Hunter, Grace, and Quinn, live in Cedar Rapids. Tom and Mary Beth’s son Tommy and wife Maricela also live in Cedar Rapids and Tommy works at Collins.

After the move, back to Iowa Tom took a job at Rockwell in Coralville and stayed there for a year and a half until he moved into a software support position at Rockwell in Cedar Rapids. He stayed at the company until his retirement in 2017 and then went back for two years as a contractor from 2018 through 2020, which ended with the Covid 19 pandemic.

Before he retired, he joined the Rockwell volunteer group and his friend Bob Clark recruited him to volunteer on Habitat for Humanity’s home builds. Tom’s father was a carpenter, so he learned the skills in his youth.

In 2017, Tom began volunteering for WRAP and now helps both organizations. Along with his volunteer duties, Tom and Mary Rose enjoy their family and love being grandparents. They are members of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Cedar Rapids.

Tom says he really enjoys the comradery with his fellow volunteers at WRAP and says they enjoy lots of laughs along with the work.

Quinn loves hockey and golf and is following in his father’s footsteps as Hunter participates in an adult hockey league at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena. Quinn learned to skate soon after he began to walk and is a member of the Junior Roughriders team in Cedar Rapids too.

Last December, on the day of the WRAP build, Tom introduced Quinn to another friend and volunteer, Ron Tonneson, who is responsible for cutting each board for the ramps. Quinn learned a lot from Ron as he explained to Quinn how to cut the boards exactly as specified and why each was cut the way it was for the project. Quinn also competed in the “Raising Men & Women Lawn Care Service 50 Yard Challenge.” The challenge ran from May of 2020 through November of 2021. He mowed 50 yards for veterans, the elderly, and people who are disabled free of charge.

“I really learned a lot the day of the WRAP build, from Ron and everyone else. Being a part of the team, really helped me put my new skills to use. It was great to see how everyone did their jobs to ensure that the ramp turned out perfectly. I also really enjoyed being able to help and learn from my grandfather, someone I love and respect. It was a very meaningful experience to me.”

                                                                                                Quinn

Quinn’s other big interest is golf, and he plays as much as he can. During the summer of 2021, he participated in the Rotary Pribyl Junior Golf Classic in Cedar Rapids. After the event, Quinn was surprised to learn that his name was chosen, from the participants, as one of eleven other junior golfers, to receive $100 to donate to his favorite charity. He was proud to give his donation to WRAP.

This summer Quinn is excited to have the opportunity to work at Gardner golf course in Marion, which falls in line with his goal of becoming a golf course superintendent after college.

“After I participated in that build, I knew that my donation would be helpful to those who need ramps to help them safely get in and out of their homes.”

                                                                                                Quinn

Tom and Quinn remind us that no matter your age or skill level, everyone has something to give. If you would like to volunteer for WRAP as an individual or with a group, contact Angie at (319) 270-7294 or visit the website at www.wrapiowa.org. If you have the heart, we would love your help!

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