By Ashley M. Casey
Associate Editor
It’s likely a common scene for families during the pandemic: parents working from home, children taking classes remotely, all vying for devices, chargers and, most importantly, their own space to work.
“Three siblings all working at the kitchen table trying to connect with their teachers and I can’t imagine the chaos,” said Debra McClendon-Boddie of one Central New York family.
McClendon-Boddie is a board member for Operation Northern Comfort, a Liverpool-based nonprofit that focuses on building projects after natural disasters and for people in need. She is also the founder and president of PGR Foundation, Inc. — the “Poised, Gifted and Ready” mentoring program for girls ages 6 to 18.
McClendon-Boddie brought her mentees’ dilemma to Norm Andrzejewski, founder of ONC.
“Norm was like, ‘We can do better than that,’” McClendon-Boddie said.
Since the pandemic has scuttled ONC’s travel plans — typically, the organization helps communities across the country rebuild after hurricanes — volunteers have focused their efforts closer to home. ONC has continued building accessible ramps and making repairs to homes locally, and now they have taken on the “Desks for Kids” initiative.
“To date, we’ve made 167 desks. We have requests for over 350,” said Laurel Flanagan, ONC co-chair.
ONC’s goal is to build 500 desks. They are drawing inspiration from Sue and Brian Caruso, a Cicero couple who built and donated dozens of desks.
“They were wrapping up their operation and they were hoping that someone would take it over,” Flanagan said. “We started out in Norm’s garage and we put together 50 desks in a weekend.”
The first 28 desks went to PGR mentees and their siblings. The children helped stain their desks, but future desks will not be stained so kids can decorate them at home.
“We use a melamine top so it’s so smooth and it’s such an easy surface to work on,” McClendon-Boddie said. “The desks are the perfect size for families that don’t have a lot of space.”
The desk-building operation quickly outgrew Andrzejewski’s garage, and a woman in Baldwinsville offered her late husband’s workshop as the group’s new headquarters.
“It was just a beautiful synergy of a place that was empty and looking for a new life and we were looking for a space,” Flanagan said.
McClendon-Boddie said the families PGR serves have expressed their gratitude for the desks and school supplies ONC has provided. She said one mother told of her child, who previously struggled to concentrate on his schoolwork, had taken charge of his new workspace.
“He said, ‘You go do your work and I’m-a do my work in my office,” McClendon-Boddie recalled. “His work was neatly placed on his desk, his desk was organized, his pencils, his laptop, everything. She went to correct his work and it was meticulous.”
Now, ONC is looking to the community to pitch in. Like many nonprofits left in the lurch by COVID-19 cancellations, ONC was forced to cancel its major annual fundraiser, the Crawfish Festival. The group is looking for donations and storage space — especially in the city of Syracuse, where most of the families receiving the desks live.
“No nonprofit is making it in this day and age without a lot of community support,” Flanagan said.
Giving back to the community, McClendon-Boddie said, benefits not only the families being directly helped, but also the volunteers. The people involved are building not just desks, but lasting relationships.
“Everybody’s getting something that warms their heart and spirit in different ways,” McClendon-Boddie said. “Once a friend of Operation Northern Comfort, always a friend.”
To learn how to volunteer for or donate to Operation Northern Comfort, visit operationnc.org or facebook.com/OperationNoCo.
Photos courtesy of Debra McClendon-Boddie
