Digging Out, Neighbors Were Helping Neighbors

Like typical teenagers, Jay and Brian Barth needed a job. Unlike most teens though, they need to be very careful which jobs they take.

Their father recently received a kidney transplant and they haven’t taken any chances with a normal job. Instead, Thursday they cleared driveways.

“I woke up around 6:30 a.m. and then started going to houses around 7:00 a.m.,” said Jay Barth.

While they did charge a nominal fee, many who hired them were in need.

“I think it’s fantastic. I mean these kids should be proud of themselves,” said Mary Duff of Naugatuck.

Duff is one of 25 customers the boys helped and says this would’ve been difficult to do on her own.

“We’re getting a little bit older it’s getting harder to remove all the snow,” she said.

These boys weren’t the only people helping others. All around Naugatuck you could find neighbors helping others, many of whom did not charge a nickel. Even those who clear snow for a living were doing some for free.

Your Photos: The First Major Snowstorm of the Season

“I just plowed out three people stuck in Waterbury. They were shoveling the car out and I was going by,” said private plow driver Todd Froelich of New Hartford.

Donna Zuk-Adley is a 63-year-old nurse who wondered how she was getting out to go to work. That is until a random stranger answered a Facebook call for help and shoveled her out.

“I’m just so thankful,” she said.

That stranger was nursing school student, Alberto Coss who was looking specifically to help first responders.

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 “There’s a lot of people that need help right now and not everybody has the strength to take the snow of the cars are clear the driveways,” said Coss.

In this season of giving, many were in the spirit today providing a helping hand to their neighbors.

“If everyone in the world today was a little nicer, I think we’d have a better place,” said Froelich.

Also, in nearby Waterbury there was more goodwill. The Police Activity League continued its annual service, as teenagers involved with the program went around the city and cleared driveways for dozens of senior citizens.