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Society of the Good Samaritan – Heritage Grove Assisted Living Resident JoAnne Whicker knows how to use phones.
Calling on her friends in the community, the 82-year-old former business owner is emerging as a major fundraiser in the Grand Forks, North Dakota, and East Grand Forks, Minnesota areas.
“Yeah,” he said, “why about $ 10,000? Whicker remembers one of his arguments for money. “I was speechless. It was the biggest.”
Asking for support for his passionate projects, Whicker doesn’t take no for an answer.
“JoAnne is a go-getter,” says Company Director Michaun Shetler.
Fighting for causes in which she believes in, the resident of the Society has an impact on her neighbors and many others.
Before Whicker’s involvement, a popular pavilion in front of the Society in East Grand Forks was just a dream.
“I said we want to (build one), but it takes money. She understood that and said I’m going to do it, ”Shetler says.
And she did, raising nearly $ 50,000 in less than a month in 2019. Whicker even asked a local construction company to donate materials and labor, bringing the total to donations of approximately $ 70,000.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re 70, 80, 90 or 100, you can still contribute,” says Shetler.
“I expected nothing in return”
Whicker is racking up the rewards for his efforts. The Company pays homage to him with a mini version of the “Whicker Pavilion”.
“I cried for three days when I had this. I didn’t expect anything in return, but I got so much that you can’t believe, ”says Whicker.
She also won the 2021 Outstanding Senior Citizen Award for Polk County.
The “Whicker Pavilion” is not the only project to be inspired by Whicker.
While placing flowers at the Grand Forks Memorial Park cemetery in 2015, Whicker noticed some neglected headstones in the veterans section.
“These were leaning that way and that way. Some of them were sunken so they were half covered. Then they went through flooding, ”says Whicker.
Whicker took action.
“I didn’t know how I was going to do it. I just knew I was going to do it, ”she says.
“Cornerstone, spine and all”
After reading a newspaper article on the matter, Kevin Fruhwirth, a 27-year-old Air Force veteran, felt called to dig. The American Legion too.
“So I took a tractor with a rope and took out all the gravestones, then cleaned the holes. I put gravel in and straightened it out with a level and that was it, ”says Kevin, who now works in facilities maintenance at the University of North Dakota.
North Dakota American Legion Vice Cmdr. District Two, Erica Claus-Numsali, said Whicker “is the cornerstone, the backbone and everything behind it. Her inspiration helped us wake up and help the community.
By raising awareness and raising funds to refresh the plots and add a memorial, Whicker received a “Key to the Town” from Grand Forks.
“She’s the one who makes this community what it is,” said former Grand Forks Mayor Michael Brown, MD. “We can always make a difference. Be present in life.
Whicker adds that she has also worked closely over the years with East Grand Forks Mayor Steve Gander.
“We made a promise”
The cemetery is the final resting place for veterans of the Civil War, WWI and WWII.
“When they went (to the war), they came looking for us. Some of them gave their lives there. Many of them have. We made them a promise we will never forget. I’m afraid they’ve been forgotten. This place looked so bad. So bad there, ”says Whicker.
Kevin says, “It looks a lot better, and it gives respect to the people who won it.” This is something that really needed to be done. I sometimes go out here and have lunch. It’s a really nice place.
You can say that the project touches the community.
For Whicker, it means “that I have done something with my life. Something worthwhile.
Her husband Stan, who served in the Korean War, was able to see the Veterans’ Project take shape. Sadly, he passed away the day before the couple were due to move into a Society apartment in 2018.
Switch to assisted living at the Society
After 62 years in a house, the two were going to try life at the center. Whicker is grateful for taking the step.
“I can go downstairs and visit people if I want to. I’m not stuck alone, ”says Whicker.
She says the meals on campus and the help of caring staff at the Society’s assisted living facilities have kept her independent. With a history of falls, she feels safe here.
“I have everything I could possibly need,” says Whicker. “You always have the help you need. “
It is easy to see that she is blossoming.
“Every resident who lives here wants to have a purpose. They can always contribute, ”says Shetler.
And Whicker admits she’s ready for her next assignment.
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Community, Large fork, Services for the elderly
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