Helping dig out seniors from the snow
Rich McQuillan, the broker/owner of EXIT Links Realty in Rockville Centre, has been working overtime this winter.
Every time it snows, McQuillan and a team of local teenagers get out shovels and start driving around to help shovel out the homes of Rockville Centre’s senior citizens.
It’s all part of McQuillan’s “We Care” organization, which participates in various community service projects around town during the year. The group of 20 or so kids that help him shovel driveways and sidewalks for seniors are the We Dig Seniors task force.
“I believe in giving back,” McQuillan said. “I tell a lot of people, success isn’t the thickness of your wallet, it’s the size of your heart.”
McQuillan started We Care last year, and had kids helping him shovel out seniors’ homes last winter. His group has been working extra this year with all the snow that has fallen in the last few weeks.
Each storm, McQuillan and a few other adult volunteers load the kids into vans and (slowly) drive to the homes of seniors. They usually clear out about 35 houses each time.
“I’ll pull up to a big house with 20 kids, and I’ll show them how, working together, they can knock out a house in five minutes without using a snow blower,” said McQuillan. “And they start to get it and they actually enjoy it. They learn that a reward can not only be financial, but also a thank you.”
Ace Hardware in Rockville Centre donated shovels to McQuillan and the kids to make their jobs a little easier. McQuillan said that he could have anywhere from 10 to 20 kids show up for each storm, but that there are more kids who are looking to sign up. He’s trying to set up zones around town, which would be headed up by one of the agents from his office and a team of shovelers.
McQuillan doesn’t charge for the service. “For a senior, they’re on fixed income,” he said. “For them to give out $50 here and $20 there [to pay for shoveling], at the end of the month it can hurt them.”
The kids don’t get paid, either. But they do get valuable experience, as well as one or two other perks.
“I give them a certificate at the end of the year for community service hours,” said McQuillan. “And then I take them to Splish Splash in the summer, where they can all go and have a good time.”
