Dunn Lumber supplies materials for Chermak Construction to build a ramp for disabled Edmonds man

Volunteers from Chermak Construction build a ramp
for disabled Edmonds man. Materials supplied by Dunn Lumber

On Saturday, May 21st volunteers from Edmonds-based Chermak Construction, Inc. turned out to participate in Rampathon® 2016. This year marks the 23rd anniversary of this event sponsored by the Master Builders Care Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Master Builders Association. Rampathon brings together local construction companies and vendors to build wheelchair ramps for recipients in need.

Jon Elkins, Project Developer for Chermak Construction, Inc. rallied 16 of his fellow co-workers to work on this year's project. Elkins says, “It’s a great opportunity to bring our carpenters and office staff together. Nothing builds strong relationships more than working together to reach a goal.”

Chermak volunteers line up behind Richard Bell.
Richard can now get to his back yard to tend his garden

This year the team from Chermak built a ramp for someone Edmonds resident Richard Bell. Richard is 39 years old and became paralyzed when he fell off the roof of his rambler-style home. His feet slipped out from underneath him and he landed on his tailbone and was immediately paralyzed.

We built a 16 foot ramp off of his back deck that allows him to have access to his back yard to care for his gardens.

In spite of the rain, Richard spent the entire day watching the project and interacting with us. He was beyond delighted with the finished ramp.

Since 1993 the Master Builders Association has built more than 370 ramps in King and Snohomish Counties. Local volunteers from the home building and remodeling industry have taken time to create custom ramp designs and lay all the groundwork for each project. Because this is a one-day event, lots of pre-planning goes into each of the projects.

Special thanks to continued support from Dunn Lumber who supplied the materials for this project.