Helping a Local Veteran Clean Out a Family Property in Clarksville
A Vietnam-era veteran needed to clear thirty years of accumulated stuff from his late brother's property. We brought the dump trailer and the time.
A friend of ours who works with a local veterans group called us about a situation outside Clarksville. A Vietnam-era veteran had inherited his late brother's property: about three acres with a house, two outbuildings, and three decades of accumulated stuff that had to be dealt with before the property could be sold.
The estate didn't have much money. The veteran was in his 70s and couldn't do the physical work himself. So we worked it out: we'd donate the dump trailer, the truck, and a couple of weekends of labor.
What the property looked like
If you've ever cleaned out a relative's house after they've passed, you know the scene. An attic full of old magazines and Christmas decorations. A garage with a riding mower that hadn't run in fifteen years, three different sets of tires, and a workbench buried under tools. Two sheds in similar shape. A back lot with a couple of derelict appliances and what was once a swing set.
The work
- 4 weekends, about 60 hours total
- 11 dump trailer loads to the transfer station
- 2 loads of metal pulled out and taken to the scrap yard separately, with the proceeds going back to the veteran
- 1 working riding mower we got running again (the family kept that one)
Why we said yes
The man served. His brother served. Asking them to figure out a roll-off dumpster and a labor crew on top of the grief and the paperwork wasn't right. This is the kind of work we want to be doing.
If you know a veteran or a senior in the Nashville area in a similar bind, please reach out. We can usually figure out a way to help.
