Steady snow taxes volunteer shovelers

Brian Ojanpa MANKATO, Minn. -- Fred Miller and his crew are to a snowy driveway what a SWAT team is to a house of bad guys.



Which is to say, they hit hard and finish fast.



“We try to average 6 to 10 minutes per house, and we come pretty close,” said Miller, chore coordinator for VINE Faith in Action. The interfaith group volunteers caregiving and support services to the elderly, disabled and families in need in two southern Minnesota counties, Blue Earth and Nicollet.



VINE volunteers have provided free snow removal each winter since 1995. When there’s even 2 inches of snow, out they go.



And demand exceeds supply.



“We have 70 people on our list, and we have to cap it off because we’re pretty maxed out,” said VINE director Pam Determan. More people could be served if volunteer numbers were greater.



Miller began the winter with eight or 10 volunteers. Recent publicity about the program netted another eight or so.



A youth hockey group is signed up to shovel in January.



“We even have a family going out and doing it with their kids,” said Miller, who uses three snowblowers (“We’re always looking for more”) and a passel of shovels.



His most vital labor source is the the Blue Earth County Jail. Volunteer inmates comprise at least two-thirds of his crew.



"Without them we couldn’t do this program," he said.



Recruiting jail help is never hard due to the fringe benefits of shoveling. Those include use of cell phones and cigarettes - luxuries prohibited in lockup.



Typically, Miller’s crews hop into a van and go out three days a week, though this December’s seemingly perpetual snowfalls have kept them busier. Parts of Southern Minnesota have already counted more than two feet of snow this season.



Retired teacher Karl Adolphson and wife, Dorothy, have been availing themselves of the shovel crew the past two years.



Dorothy said she lets the volunteers know how much she appreciates their help.



“I give them treats all the time — cookies and sweets," she said. "They’re good Samaritans."



Brian Ojanpa writes for The Free Press in Mankato, Minn.