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David Morrissey
As someone who has delivered goods donated by Hy-Vee to local food pantries, David Morrissey is no stranger
to the power of volunteering.
“I’ve done enough volunteer work myself that I understand how it works,” he said. “It’s satisfying, let’s put it that way.”
Now after giving to the community, the 83-year-old is getting something back. With the help of AmeriCorps workers, his kitchen has been remodeled and the basement, which was completely flooded in 2008, is being worked on.
“They’re doing everything in bringing the basement back,” he said. “I can’t do it, and (his six grown-up children) now have jobs and they wouldn’t be able to do it.”
Morrissey has recently had to endure more than just his home of 25 years flooding. At around the same time as the disaster, he said he had to have knee replacement surgery done. Then as the one-year anniversary of the flood drew near, he lost his wife, Margery, to congenital heart failure.
But Morrissey claims to be dealing with everything fine.
“It’s been a couple of bad years, so what?” he responded.
The AmeriCorps VISTAs and NCCCs have helped in moving Morrissey forward, and he lauds the job they have done on his home. Speaking of the basement, he noted the effort of volunteers to get 45 pieces of sheet rock down there, each sheet weighing about 88 pounds, according to Morrissey.
“A couple of girls were carrying that thing down and they weren’t that big,” he laughed. “The guys were helping them, two of the guys would take them two at a time, with one on either end. Some of them were picking it up on their own.”
As a showing of gratitude for their hard work, Morrissey does what he can to make sure the volunteers are taken care of, giving them 12-packs of soda and fruit snacks.
“They’ve always been pleasant. I’ve liked all of the people that came in here,” he said. “There’s always somebody down there that knows what has to be done.”
Morrissey also commends the work of the Community Recovery Center, located three blocks from his northwest Cedar Rapids residence.
“I have no complaints,” he said. “I was told to go over there by the neighborhood president. I said I didn’t think I needed it. Well, I did need it.”
By Brian Siguenza