Texas Ramp Project and Farmers Lumber Team Up to Help a Former Employee

Volunteers with the Texas Ramp Project teamed up with Farmers Lumber Company on Tuesday, Nov. 1, to build a wheelchair ramp for Jim Matheson, a retired Farmers employee who recently suffered some health problems.

Amid a cacophony of hammers, drills, and power saws, workers shouted out measurements and carpentry jokes at the Matheson home in Warda.

“Cut off two and three-eighths. Hammer to fit and paint to match.”

Despite the jokes, 81-year-old chief builder Charlie Sledge and his team of Texas Ramp Project volunteers know how to build a fine wheelchair ramp. According to Bill Koenig, who heads up the local chapter of the Texas Ramp Project, the group has built over 300 ramps in Fayette and Lee counties over the past six years.

Koenig said the group usually purchases lumber and other materials for their ramps. But for this project, Farmers Lumber Company donated the materials as a token of appreciation to their former employee.

Koenig said his group builds wheelchair ramps for anyone in need, but applicants must get a medical referral from their healthcare provider or social worker.

Local charities such as Second Chance Emporium, Methodist Men, Holy Smokers, Lions and Rotary clubs and about ten local churches provide funding for the Ramp Project. Koenig said all the money stays in Fayette County.

“No one gets a salary, not even our state executive director,” Koenig said.

All ramps they build comply with the American with Disabilities Act. At the Matheson home, a number of Farmers employees assisted the crew from the Texas Ramp Project. 

The crew met at Holy Cross Lutheran Church at 8:30 a.m. last Tuesday before heading to the Matheson home. Sledge laid out the plans and Koenig said a prayer, “Asking the Good Lord to let us keep all our fingers and hands,” he said.

Once at the home, the crew of about a dozen volunteers knocked out the job before lunch.

“We’ve gotten this down to a fine art, you might say,” Koenig said.

Most of the volunteers are retired and in their 70s and 80s, so they could use some younger help. Anyone wishing to volunteer can call Koenig at (979) 966-7079.