Maine homeowner shares love and gratitude for Fuller Center and volunteers
WINDHAM, Maine — The Fuller Center Bicycle Adventure’s final build day of the 2022 cross-country ride was hosted by the Sebago Lakes Region Fuller Center for Housing, which utilized the volunteer labor from the cyclists on several different projects.
One project, though, was particularly emotional as they helped build a porch and tackled other repairs and retrofits to help Linda and John Gregoire. John suffers from the advanced stages of ALS, and getting him out of the house had become extremely difficult. He can now not only safely exit his home, but he also has a safe, new porch onto which he can roll out and enjoy the fresh air.
Linda is graciously allowing us to share her message of gratitude to Bicycle Adventurers and especially the volunteers and leaders of the Sebago Lakes Region Fuller Center for Housing which continues to help residents, especially the elderly and veterans, stay safely in their homes. Linda’s message seems quite fitting this week of Thanksgiving:
LINDA GREGOIRE
I’m here to share with you from everyone who was a recipient of the Fuller Center projects, our thanks and gratitude for your kind of help. I don’t just speak for John and myself, but I hope I speak for everyone you helped.
I want to start with a quote that I feel epitomizes the spirit of volunteerism by a woman who dedicated her life to helping the unseen. In the words of Mother Teresa … ”You have not truly lived until you have done something for someone who can do nothing to repay you.”
Serving the unseen — the elderly, disabled and veterans, who are often both — is a worthy calling. We should remember the unseen weren’t always unseen. They were productive members of our community. So, to have a group of caring people come into your life to fix or build and repair something you use to be able to do but now cannot is an unbelievable experience and blessing.
Sebago Lakes Region Fuller Center for Housing
First, the feeling of gratitude is overwhelming. Second, the feeling of relief as a need is met — and then the feeling of how do you ever thank the people that gave freely of their love, compassion, time, talent and resources? It can be so humbling and overwhelming to receive so much. But I assure you — you have been thanked in prayers to be blessed as you have been blessing.
I think to better understand and relate, we are all part of a big family, God’s family, and as God’s children, He must smile and feel the same way we do as parents when our children’s needs are met and they are cared for. God smiled a lot this summer particularly on July 29, but also on the raining afternoon when the last nail was pounded as the rain fell. None of it goes unnoticed.
What you all did this summer won’t just last for the summer. After you went home, back to your jobs and lives, what you did will last for years to come. Helping people such as ourselves (John and myself) and the people who will use the pavilion comes to mind, the number of people who will enjoy your labor, families with their kids who will never know each of you who built the project but will enjoy it for a long time. Every project will be a testament of what we can do for one another when we join together and put our “Faith into Action.”
So, for every person each of you blessed, I want you to know you changed circumstances, which has changed lives and how those lives are lived and enjoyed . Thank you and God bless you as you are a blessing to so many. I hope and pray these projects will be an example to others, what we can all accomplish when we open our hearts and use our hands to help the unseen.
