An Ohio nonprofit has teamed up with local high schoolers to make life a little easier for a terminally-ill veteran by building a wheelchair ramp for his home, connecting him to the outside world.
It all began when Hospice of Cincinnati called the nonprofit’s founders, Greg and Lisa Schneider; they knew they had to help Bob. Aged 89, the Army veteran—who served during the Cold War between 1952 and 1954—was given 6 months to live, 18 months ago.
“He is beating all odds,” Greg, 60, told The Epoch Times. “All of his glands and organs in his body are deteriorating, and his time is very limited.”
Meanwhile, the Badin High School seniors had been volunteering with Greg and his nonprofit for the last two years. They then had an idea of having a senior project revolve around giving back to the community and thus they decided to work together to build a ramp for Bob.
“He could not believe that there was an organization out there that volunteered their time and donated their money to provide him with a free ramp,” said Greg. “The word he used to describe his pure joy was ‘freedom.’ He was so grateful to finally be provided with the ability to move freely in and out of his home, without depending on anyone else to assist him.”
The project marked the culmination of four years of community-service hours for the industrious high schoolers, and the seniors drove the project, raising $2,500 via a GoFundMe page and a sponsored out-of-uniform day at school to raise funds for the material of the ramp. However, it was more than they needed, enabling them to present Bob with a surprise $500 check.
Wishing to pay it forward, Bob promptly donated the money to United Service Organization (USO) to help other veterans in the community.
“I was so proud of them,” Greg told The Epoch Times of his hardworking seniors, adding that he and the ramp contractor allowed them to build the entire ramp under their supervision. “They had to use their leadership and teamwork skills. It was just so rewarding seeing these young men work together and accomplish such an amazing goal.”
After completing Bob’s ramp, the seniors visited local junior-high schools to share their project, and encourage future graduating classes to consider working with Greg’s nonprofit.
The Schneiders founded Operation Ramp It Up in their hometown of Cincinnati in 2014. While working hard at the nonprofit with his four adult children—all graduates of Badin High—Greg also retains the job at UPS where he has been employed for the last 42 years.
After being moved by the impact of his first ramp build in 2014, Greg formed his mission statement: to “provide freedom, independence, and accessibility to veterans and all others with mobility issues.”
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To date, the nonprofit has either installed or removed over 200 ramps in 35 states across the nation.
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