KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers the cities of Shawnee and Mission. She also focuses on issues surrounding the cost of health care, saving for retirement and personal debt. Share your story idea with Elyse.
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Kansas City's historic blizzard has racked up unexpected costs for many.
Whether it's a last-minute trip to the grocery store, servicing your car or shoveling your driveway, it can be difficult to keep up with.
That’s part of why the city of Shawnee runs a volunteer-based program called the Snow Squad during inclement weather.
Volunteers are matched to Shawnee residents who need help with snow removal. To qualify, a person must be 65 or older, have a disability, and have a household income of $61,250 or less.
"I'm on a fixed income and I don't get a lot on my social security," Shawnee homeowner Robin Raymond said. "So, for me, it means a lot for me."
With Raymond's tight budget, she said she welcomes the helping hand.
"If they didn't come out and help me, I would have to do it," she said. "I couldn't afford really to hire someone else to do it for me."
She was lucky enough to get help from two of the Snow Squad’s best: Sharon Hudson and Jo Laski, who just happen to be sisters.
"It's just good to help people out who had no other way of getting it done," Sharon Hudson said.
For this sister squad, there's more than one bonus to lending a helping hand: volunteering, getting out of the house and spending quality time together.
"I did think about throwing snowballs at her, but I didn't do it," Hudson said.
Laski said, "You would have gotten an ice ball back."
A city of Shawnee employee says they're looking for more volunteers to sign up through the volunteer portal on their website, so they can continue to help more Shawnee residents with snow removal.
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