Friday, May 27, 2005

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Students make a dream come true for their grief-stricken custodian

By Michael J. Thompson

Bertha Ballard couldn’t hold back her tears. Earlier this year, she had lost her home in Gay, Ga. to a fire. Trapped inside the blaze was her loving husband of 43 years, A.C.

Yesterday however, the 60-year-old custodian was surrounded by the support group that has helped her through the last few tumultuous months- the students at Peeples Elementary School- as she was awarded a $10,000 check by Nature’s Landscape Services owner Phil Jackson, as part of the extreme landscape makeover contest.

“I love you all so much,” said Ballard, addressing the entire room.

Standing in front of hundreds of students, faculty, staff and parents in the Peeples lunchroom accepting the award, Ballard’s tears quickly spread.

The emotion in the room when the students erupted in joyous celebration at the news their beloved custodian had won the contest was palpable, for it was these students who were instrumental in Ballard winning.

The American spirit is alive and well at Peeples Elementary, Jackson said.

“She must be a really outstanding woman to touch so many people lives,” he said.

The students at Peeples engaged in a letter-writing campaign when they reponded to an advertisment in a newspaper for a $10,000 extreme home makeover. Already, the Peeples community had raised more than $12,000 to help construct a new home for Ballard, but the students wanted to do more.

A parent at Peeples, Roxanne Smith, saw the ad for the makeover and thought of writing a letter on Ballard’s behalf. “I thought, instead of writing one letter, it would be more powerful if everyone at the school wrote letters,” she said.

So individual students, classes and teachers wrote letters and we collected them all and sent them for the contest, said Smith.

It wasn’t until Wednesday of this week that the news came that Ballard had been selected.

“I’m so shocked and blessed at all of this, everything that people have done to help me and my family,” said Ballard.

Along with the money raised for a new home by the community and the extreme home makeover prize, Square Foot Ministries is helping to help pay for the rest of the new home, which is estimated to cost more than $50,000.

Ballard had lived in the home for 37 years, and raised 10 children within its walls. She is the proud grandmother of 13 and great-grandmother of two. The past several years, her husband had been very ill, and Ballard had been the primary caretaker.

Currently, she lives with her daughter.

When asked how she has dealt with the sudden loss of her husband and home, she point across the crowded lunchroom to the students and said, “This is my strength right here.”

The events of the past several months have been difficult for her to cope with, but the outpouring of support she has received from faculty, parents and especially the students at Peeples Elementary has been overwhelming.

“At my husband’s funeral, everyone was there...teachers, students, the administration. They helped me so much... they took me under their wings,” Ballard said, while kids walked up and gave her congratulatory hugs. Trying to fight back tears, she said, “it’s love, I love them... these kids have been behind me since day one.”

Construction will begin on a new four-bedroom, two-bath home for Ballard on June 4. Volunteers will provide the labor through June 11, and on the last day of work, Peeples students will again show their support by helping with the home as well.

“These students have learned that helping others is one of the best gifts you can give a person,” said Smith.