Grandpa's Promise
Our Story.
In July of 2014, we lost my grandmother Margie Jones to cancer. She had battled the cancer for almost two years when the doctors told her she had beat it. She enjoyed two months clear of the cancer but, tragically at her next follow up they told her it had returned with renewed vigor. The cancer had now spread to her entire body leaving no course for effective treatment. Soon after that appointment, we lost her.
Carrying on after her was my grandfather Art Jones who is a Vietnam combat veteran and recipient of 4 Purple Hearts, and 3 distinguished Flying Crosses, as well as numerous other medals for valor. During grandpa's time in the Army as a CWO, he was known for venturing into hot LZ’s in his Huey Gunship. In multiple missions he flew his huey gunship in to lay down supportive fire and became an adaptive pilot so that he could retrieve troops. On many of these danger close situations he received heavy enemy fire and, after his 3rd major crash, he was told he would no longer be able to fly due to his injuries at which point he was medically retired after 18 years of honorable service. None in my family are quite sure how many lives he had saved by going into those areas. He is one of the last remaining living members of his platoon and has lost most of his fellow brothers in arms from that time.
Before grandma passed she made grandpa promise that he would finish the project they started together of taking the property that was given to her by her father and cleaning it up in order to finish their dream home.
After she passed, grandpa started working tirelessly to get the property cleaned up and begin the renovations of the house. He hired multiple groups in the beginning that had promised to do the work he needed and get it done in the time he was requesting. Within a few days all of the groups were either barely working and begging for money to go get their next fix on meth or pot, or had stolen supplies and valuable equipment. After multiple groups he had finally had enough and set to do the work on his own with help from his two sons (my father and uncle). The work had been going, but going slow up until recently when grandpa came down with what the family assumed was a kidney stone. After the stone didn’t pass and he was rushed to the emergency room we discovered the stone was in fact not a stone but a large tumor in his kidney. The tumor was so large that they removed a little less than half and now are waiting to go in to retrieve the rest. They have also told us that it is in his lymphatic system and he likely does not have more than a year even with chemotherapy. He now spends 90% of his time glued to his chair in pain or laid out on the couch for the same reason. He is unable to take care of himself to the level he needs and as a result both trash in and outside the house have began to pile up even against my best efforts. Ultimately, his living conditions have declined to the point that work on the house has come to a complete stop.
In addition to these issues with grandpa's health we have been hindered by a fire set by careless workers on their smoke break earlier last year. None of the major buildings were set ablaze but by the time the fire department was able to put out the blaze it had cleared the land of the established growth and now the scrub has taken over the the property causing it to become unusable in its current state.
With the current condition of the property being as it is, the local criminal element sees the property as an easy mark. We have had an issue with people coming around in the middle of the night to steal and destroy what is left. Due to his health issues as they stand it has left grandpa unable to defend himself from anyone who enters the property to steal or do him harm.
Our family has a long history of military service in the Army, Navy and Marines and we are not the kind of people to ever ask for help on things we can do on our own, but we have reached a point where we just can’t handle the task of keeping that promise to my grandmother without outside help. This is a vow he promised to fulfill before he passed himself.
Both my Father and Uncle work full time and as it is I am the only person able to go to the property on a consistent enough basis to try and make a dent in our growing list of tasks. I am unable to keep up with the growing issues on my own and we need your help.
How you can help.
We are asking for both financial aid to help purchase supplies and equipment rentals, as well as requesting help with manual labor at a set time in the future to attack some of these issues. Skilled Tradesmen, it would be highly appreciated if you can offer your time when we set out on our week long working party. We are hoping to gather 15-20 motivated individuals to help work on this massive undertaking.
Our Mission.
Our first order of business is to secure the property from the local criminal element, meaning a substantial gate and fencing to go with it. Next, is to fix the road to the house and make it passable for emergency vehicles to reach the home because current conditions prohibit anything aside from 4x4 equipped vehicles reaching him in a emergency situation. Establishing proper drainage system is also a top priority due to the steep incline of the existing road prohibiting the delivery of building supplies and equipment to finish the work on the home.
Second on our list, the property needs to be properly cleared of the heavy brush before the summer and fire season arrive and threaten to engulf the property again. Next on our agenda is to finish the work that has been abandoned inside of the house by the “workers” and get Grandma’s addition to the home closed in and drywalled so that he can keep his promise to her of renovating the home. The goal of finishing the renovation to the home is most paramount in our list because it is his promise to her to complete it.
If we are able to accomplish our goals listed here our final goal of the week will be to set up targets and tannerite and host a day long range day and rifle instruction. We are planning to have a cleared area for the lot of us to Camp out under the stars on site during the week and enjoy each other's company and some good ole bonfire and bourbon.
The Time frame.
Our Aim is to raise these funds over the next 35-40 days.
Then spend the following 30 days working with local engeneers and supply stores to build our attack plan based on the funds raised, purchase supplies, and set up equipment rental/delivery dates.
Following that we will spend the next 30 days gathering our volunteers like you and setting our dates to begin the week long working party/camp out. Once our date is set, our Volunteers, supplies and equipment are on site we will get to work on getting this project started and keeping Grandpa's Promise.
If you are interested in volunteering your time durring our week long working party, Offering your companies services or expertise please feel free to email me at [email redacted]
Thank you.
