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Signal Centers volunteer gives nonprofit a lift

By: Susan Pierce
(Contact)

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Farrell Eaves

A Signal Centers volunteer solved in two weeks a problem that had plagued the nonprofit for 18 years.

On a visit to the agency, Farrell Eaves said he noticed staff members carrying tray-load after tray-load of lunches up two flights of stairs. When he asked what was going on, Mr. Eaves learned it was lunchtime and the staff was trying to get meals served to 100 children on the second floor when trays were prepared on the first floor.

When asked why a dumbwaiter hadn’t been installed, he was told estimates for such an improvement had run $65,000 — an indulgence for a nonprofits’ tight budget.

“I asked, ‘Would you mind if I built one?’ And they didn’t have a problem with that,” said Mr. Eaves.

Mr. Eaves is a retired engineer who does safety consultations on Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulatory matters, and he’s a woodworking hobbyist in his spare time.

Signal Centers is a nonprofit that serves children and adults with services that focus on disabilities, early childhood education and self-sufficiency. The agency is housed in the old Sunnyside Elementary School building on North Germantown Road, a multistory brick building that marks its 100th anniversary this year.

There are 100 children ages 6 weeks to 5 years in 10 classes of Signal Centers’ Children’s Program. The children’s disabilities make mobility an issue, which required serving lunches in the classrooms.

Staff members would either carry lunch trays up and down two flights of 14 stairs or load the trays onto carts, go outside the first-floor and push the carts up a steep incline to a second-floor entrance of the building.

Mr. Eaves said by the time he drove home that day, he’d thought through the design of the lift, and it took him about 45 minutes to put it down on paper.

“It’s very simple,” he said. “It’s a hollow shaft with a lift that goes up and down with a hoist on top and switches to turn it on and off.”

Mr. Eaves said he took his design to Rod Callahan, owner of Callahan Companies, to ask his assistance.

“I’ve worked with Rod for years as a consultant. I showed him what I was doing and asked if I could build it in his shop. I said I’d pay for labor and materials. He looked at it and said no,” Mr. Eaves said.

Mr. Eaves said he was stunned speechless before Mr. Callahan added, “I want to do it all and donate the materials.” Mr. Eaves estimated that donation to be $5,500 in materials and labor.

Mr. Eaves and the Callahan employees had the dumbwaiter built within two days.

Called the “food transporter” by Signal Centers staff, the device is 18 feet, 6 inches high, 2 feet wide and about 3 feet deep. It is made of 26-gauge galvanized steel with a 110-volt motor.

“Other contractors who had been in our building over the years had looked at the problem and estimates we’d received were about $65,000,” said Donna McConnico, chief executive officer of Signal Centers.

“For 18 years we’ve had to push food up a hill or carry it up steps. Farrell solved an 18-year-old problem in less than one day.”

Jerry Preisel, Signal Centers board president, said this was not the first project Mr. Eaves has undertaken for the agency. He has built rolling wooden bookcases, and the two woodworkers together built a large wooden tree that will be permanently installed in Signal Centers for donor recognition.

“I just saw a need and wanted to help,” Mr. Eaves said, shaking off their praise. “It’s done, they said thank-you and it’s over.”

E-mail spierce@timesfreepress.com

Staff Photo by Allison Kwesell

Signal Centers employee Brenda Fowler removes lunch trays from the food transporter designed and built by Farrell Eaves, a Signal Centers volunteer.

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