check presentation

SAWs Receives Grant from Community Foundation of Boone County

Servants at Work, Inc. (SAWS) is excited to announce that we have been awarded $30,000 from the Community Foundation of Boone County (CFBC)! Earlier this year, CFBC committed to matching all donations to SAWs up to $30,000 with a generous grant designated for Boone County. SAWs supporters embraced the challenge and met the match.

In August, SAWs met with CFBC at the site of a recently built ramp for Grace near downtown Lebanon. The staff of both organizations discussed collaborating to support Boone County and building accessibility and freedom for residents. CFBC President and CEO, Jodi Gietl presented SAWs Executive Director Mike Thompson with a check for $30,000 and spoke to viewers live on SAWs Instagram.

“Partnering with CFBC helps SAWs financially and brings awareness to our mission. Together and with the help of volunteers, we will support new clients who have lost their mobility freedom,” stated Mike Thompson.

SAWs is blessed with a supporter network that raised the maximum amount for the matching grant in just a few months.

The grant and community funds are especially crucial at this time, as inflation and material costs have impacted the SAWs budget. Ramp requests are also at an all-time high in warmer months, and SAWs make every effort to respond to requests in a timely manner.

All the raw materials for an ADA-compliant wheelchair-accessible can average $2,000 per ramp. We use ground contact #1 premium lumber, which means that our ramps can be a reliable constant in our clients’ lives, and they can be confident in their accessibility. In addition, the ramps are built by the loving hand of volunteers, translating to minimum nonprofit overhead.

Gifts made to SAWs directly translate into impact in the community. For example, a SAWs ramp can make it possible for someone living with disabilities to be able to enter and exit their home independently. Unfortunately, most homes are not designed with accessibility in mind, and as our neighbors age or experience other ambulatory limitations, the steps to our homes can become insurmountable obstacles. Recently, a SAWs client stated before being outfitted with a ramp he hadn’t left his home in over a year. Unfortunately, this story is not uncommon. Lumber, building materials, tools, and the labor and skill required to plan and build a long-lasting ramp that can withstand today’s power wheelchairs can be cost-prohibitive for an individual in need of a ramp. However, what is challenging for one, can be made easy by many. That is where SAWs and our army of volunteers come together to build a life-changing solution in just a few hours.

SAWs built ten ramps for residents of Boone County, Indiana, in 2022, and more requests are coming in daily. Ramps will be able to help residents reconnect with their neighbors, friends, families, and communities.

We are proud to be a part of the Connect Boone County application that connects nonprofits with residents. Opportunities to volunteer as part of SAWs include grant writing or ramp building and can be found on Connect Boone County or https://sawsramps.volunteerhub.com/. Donations for SAWs can be made at sawsramps.org