A Roof Repair for Bess Srahulek

We are two Western students, Inmo Sung and Laura Matias, hoping to raise money for a lovely woman!

There is a wonderful 89-year-old woman named Bess Srahulek (“Broughdale grandma”) who has her home vandalized by students every year on FOCO. We are two Western University students who had the pleasure of meeting Bess when helping to clear the litter off her front lawn. We were heartbroken upon hearing about the damages she has endured over the years due to the FOCO celebrations, and as such have remained in touch with her, promising her that we would do something about this. 

Two years ago, her garden, which was planted by her late husband, was trampled by students and later replanted with the amazing help of the Western community.

She has recently discovered a crack in her ceiling that is becoming increasingly worse. This crack has been caused by the amount of students who hop up on her roof during the street parties on Broughdale. This is her favourite room in the house (with all of her plants) and it is a big worry for when winter comes around with all of the snow. 

We are hoping to raise some money for Mrs. Srahulek so that she can start the process of having her roof repaired. We also intend on bringing her some more potted plants as a gift from the community. On October 4, she will have the damages assessed and will be provided with an estimate. The goal is to repair the roof, if possible, rather than replace it. The contractors involved are hoping to change the roof to a sloped roof to prevent this from happening again. 

She also had her window smashed, which is thankfully already being paid for. A post was stolen from her fence, but a good Samaritan brought her a new one. 

She expressed her appreciation for “the good students” who helped with her garden, and she was grateful that there were “still good ones left”. We are hoping to have the Western community write letters to her to show her that there are many, many great students at Western and who care about what happened to her. We have opened up a Google doc and we are requesting that anyone who can please take a few minutes and write her a quick letting stating who you are, what year/program you’re in, any extracurriculars you’re involved in (especially if they help out the community in any way), any hobbies, future aspirations, etc. Something for her to read and smile at and to help her get to know her good neighbours. NOTE: This is also open to faculty, staff, alumni, and anyone else who wishes to contribute!

https://forms.gle/qqz12s2UyUSYBddR9

The letters will be printed out and given to her in a booklet by October 7th along with some potted plants for her garden. Let me know if you guys have any questions!

The funds will be given directly to her with the letters and the various other contributions from students (such as plants and seeds). We hope to pay the contractors directly and if this is not possible, we will issue her a cheque.