Ephrata to coordinate snow removal for needy

EPHRATA — Ephrata is creating a list of groups willing to help people remove snow from their driveway.

The idea for the list came out of a meeting of staff and councilmembers to discuss possible improvements to the city’s snow removal system, said City Administrator Wes Crago. Staff evaluated three ideas from the meeting — a snow blower, using social media Web sites to provide updates on where the snow plows are and finding groups willing to help people in need.

“Social media is going to take a little while to evaluate. The snow blower really doesn’t pan out in terms of being financially advantageous to the city,” he said. “So what we’re left with is doing this idea of trying to link up or facilitate people who need with people who are willing to give.”

The city contacted churches and civic groups to find ones willing to be listed by the city. The organizations would receive a map of homes, where residents request help, Crago said.

“We would send out that list with the date and time of when the plows would be coming through various neighborhoods and then let volunteer help coordinate themselves,” he said. “People who need help would have to fill out a short form, or simply call the city and we would fill out the form over the phone on their behalf.”

The city is still working on the project, Crago said. Seven church groups and one civic group have agreed to participate. The groups include Catholic Family Services, The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints, the Community Church of Ephrata, the Church of Christ, Ephrata Foursquare Church, the Seventh Day Adventists and the Knights of Columbus and  The Ephrata Lions Club.

“I think that’s a great response as quickly as we’ve been working on this, given that a lot of youth groups during the holidays are busy. They have to talk to the youth group, talk to pastoral staff or teaching staff and we’ll continue this process on until we’ve got a good enough group put together and then we’ll organize it through the Web and through an e-mail alert system.”

Crago said many of the people the city has talked with is doing this service already.