Ferrymead Rotary recently presented a Paul Harris Award to Richard Low (Flooring Xtra)
“They certainly weren’t after a handout or anything like that. We were just giving them a quote. And then we found out the circumstances and decided to try and help them,” said Richard Low, managing owner of Flooring Xtra Ferrymead. That’s the end of the story which we heard about through the Rotary network. How did the story start?
This story concerns a local resident Ally Barton who is a former ICU nurse and one of the youngest in the country to be diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. Ally and her partner, Paul lived in a house with old worn-down carpet and flooring which was unsuitable and unsafe for Ally’s powered wheelchair and walking frame. Paul had to stop his job to become a full-time carer for Ally, and money was short! So, Paul applied for disability funding to replace the flooring.
Unfortunately, they didn’t receive a positive response from the government’s disability organisation, Manawanui. But they felt they had to get the flooring job done. So, they went to their local carpet store Flooring Xtra for a quote.
That’s where Richard Low and his team come into the story. They donated the carpet and laminate flooring, and the tradie contractors offered their time for free. This would normally be an $8,000 job, but it cost the Bartons nothing.
”We were completely blown away; we did not expect this at all”. Paul said.
This made Ferrymead Rotary members want to honour Richard with a Paul Harris Award.
Paul Harris was a Chicago lawyer who started Rotary in 1905. Initially a club for fellowship and networking, Rotary has now grown to 1.2 million members in 35,000 clubs in 220 countries. Ferrymead Rotary is proud to be part of this world-wide humanitarian organisation. A Paul Harris award is Rotary’s way of recognising the very best people in our community.
President Bil Carlton presented the award to Richard Low at a recent meeting.