Snow Angels are here to save the day
MIDDLESEX TWP — With their shovels in hand, Dennis Kivley Jr., 10, raced his younger brother Steven, 7, and friend Matthew Sproat, 7, down a snow-covered driveway.
They started to lose speed as their shovels filled with snow.
Steven was the last to reach the end of the driveway. As his shovel hit the pile, his momentum carried him forward, and he landed face down in a mound of snow.
He was quick to bounce up, laughing as he pulled himself up from the nose dive.
The only thing visible on his snow covered face was his smile.
Steven, along with his brother Dennis, sister, Autumn Pitell, 5, and neighbor Matthew have spent most of their “snow day” on Friday, Jan. 19, shoveling snow for their neighbors in the Dwellington housing plan. Refusing to take payment, the group of children said the reason they do it is because they want to do something nice for their neighborhood.
“It’s good,” said Autumn. “I get to help the neighbors.”
The snowstorm on Friday, Jan. 19, has left some elderly residents in the county unable to leave their homes due to winter conditions. Some volunteers, like the Dennis, Steven, Matthew and the Cranberry Snow Angels have spent the day shoveling snow and removing ice for their neighbors in needs.
Susan Kivley of Middlesex Township is the mother of Dennis, Steven and Autumn. She said she started getting her children involved in shoveling snow because she wanted to teach them about kindness.
“My daughter and oldest son were coming home complaining of people not being very nice to them at school,” said Kivley. “I wanted to remind them that people in the world can be kind and you don’t respond to bullying with being rude.”
When the snow hit last weekend, Kivley and her children bundled up and hit the street with a shovels in hand.
It did not take long before Matthew and his mother Kelly Cole, joined the volunteer group.
“Susan posted on Facebook and I though that was a great idea,” Cole said. “He’s got a ton of energy so we went out and did four driveways last weekend.”
Dennis said he was happy to help out his next-door neighbor, an elderly woman who has a hard time leaving her home when there is too much snow in her driveway.
“This girls is alone and she doesn’t really have a car with four-wheel drive,” Dennis said. “I like serving the drivers who don’t really have any help and stuff. I like helping, to be nice.”
Cranberry Snow Angels is a volunteer organization that pairs willing participants with residents in need of removing snow and ice from their driveway.
Tina Fedko, director of communications for Cranberry Township, said the program is an opportunity to help community members in need.
“The Snow Angels empowers volunteers to help seniors move around freely during winter months,” Fedko said. “They can regain use of sidewalk and driveways and move around easily with the snow removal.”
Snow Angles teams up volunteers with residents who signed up to have their driveway shoveled. Residents exchange phone numbers with their “Snow Angel” to communicate their needs.
This is Kari Zimmer’s first year as a Snow Angel. She said she loves the program because it combines two of her favorite things, “going outside and helping.”
“It’s a great way to get outside and get some fresh air,” Zimmer said. “And help others around you too.”
Wanting to instill a sense of community in her daughter, Zimmer has brought her daughter Corrine, 7, with her to shovel driveways when she is not in school.
“We want to encourage her to good things,” Zimmer said.
Corrine is in charge of the ice, while her mother shovels the driveway.
“She liked sprinkling the salt,” Zimmer said. “She was not very conservative, she was very liberal with the salt spreading.”
The Snow Angel program has been around for six years and continues to grow beyond Cranberry Township, according to Fedko.
“We have over 40 volunteers for this season,” Fedko said. “They are individuals from Cranberry Township and beyond. You can live in a neighboring township or municipality and still volunteer for this program.”
Fedko said the Snow Angel program provides a “bridge between the youth and the older generation.”
“We have a long of young people paired up people they would not have met otherwise,” Fedko said. “It allows them to share stories and brings in a real sense of community.”
Snow Angels is still looking for volunteers, with least 10 people who are on a waiting list to have their drive way shoveled, Fedko said.
“It's a good way to pay-it forward,” Fedko said. “We see a lot of young volunteers that want to be involved in the community and apply it forward, and this is a rewarding way to do that.”
To sing up for the Snow Angel program, residents can visit www.cranberrytownship.org/2764/Snow-Angels.
