Published: February 22, 2007 11:35 am            

Help is on the way for Clinton family

As is often the case, when a Gateway-area resident is sick or suffering, many rush to provide aid. Judging by how many times we’ve been contacted by people asking how to put information in the newspaper about a benefit they’ve organized for a friend, there are many who’ve been blessed with people who care and want to help them.

That is exactly what is happening right now in Clinton as we write this.

Five days before Christmas, Russ Sinn was seeking medical help at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City and was told he has stage-four pancreatic metastatic cancer, a type of cancer that quickly spread from his pancreas to other vital organs. It was something doctors had never seen in a 38-year-old man like Russ — and it is inoperable.

Soon after, Bill Giddings Jr., a friend of the Sinns, asked Russ’s son, Alex, how his father was doing, and if Alex’s dad could have one thing, what would that be?

Alex thought for a bit, and told Giddings, “One thing I’d really like is to have our house done, so if Dad has to leave us, he won’t have to worry about leaving us with a house full of projects.”

So Giddings, Dann Stuhlman and other friends banded together on a mission to complete an “extreme makeover” of the Sinn home, with new windows, siding, roofing and interior work.

Another family friend, Ron Cook, made a rental house available to the Sinns for them to live in while their home undergoes a transformation.

Following the initial introduction of the family and their plight in the Clinton Herald, volunteers have come from churches, organizations and businesses to help Giddings, Cook, and Stuhlman make Russ’s dream of a safe, remodeled home for his family a reality. Giddings said volunteers have come from throughout the Clinton area to lend a much-needed hand to the project.

While everything is moving toward completion, Giddings has another request: “Time is really precious now, and more than ever we’re asking for all the skilled labor we can get, so we can get Russ, Lauri and the boys back in their home.”

We are hoping that call is heeded and that with enough help, the family soon will be able to move into their revamped home — a true symbol of the generosity of area residents.

        

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