SOMERS-based Sam Goode has a philosophy of “giving back” and his actions certainly match his words.
The carpenter/building company owner recently took his apprentice Josh McCabe and his tools to Lismore to give some non-gratis help to flood victims and get their homes back in working order.
One year on from record flooding events many residents were still unable to fully move back into their homes due to lack of essential plumbing, including running water.
To help get the repairs happening, Resilient Lismore partnered with the Reece Foundation to bring volunteer tradies to the community to restore essential plumbing in the homes of some of the most vulnerable members of the community.
Just back from the experience, the Padua College-educated Goode, now 31, said it was an incredible opportunity to help people in genuine need and give his apprentice some rare experience working in emergency situations and a chance to “open up the mindset”.
Goode said much of the work he performed was water proofing of bathrooms, some carpentry construction and scoping of what was needed.
“We didn’t really know what to expect but thought it would be great to be able to help and a fabulous experience for my apprentice,” he said.
“There was a great team of people, and it was inspiring to be part of something like this.”
Goode said he had been considering doing something similar overseas when he heard about a program that connects tradies to communities in need.
He said despite some hardships in the trade industry, he felt “lucky” to have a job he loved and to be able to give back.
Off his own back, the community-minded tradie got other companies involved, securing free Ultimate Tiles and Ardex products for the Lismore repairs.
Goode’s expenses were self-funded, apart from travel and some accommodation expenses, but he had to cover his apprentices’ wages and lose paid work for the two weeks he was there.
“But it was worth it, a fabulous experience,” he said.
Elly Bird, Resilient Lismore executive director, said that if it wasn’t for the willingness of volunteers and charitable partners “we wouldn’t have made a dent in getting these people back into their homes, but more needs to be done to support our community”.
Lismore deployed more than 13,800 volunteers to more than 3600 community for rebuild jobs and has delivered the program ‘Two Rooms’ to 72 homes so far. Thousands of homes are still so significantly water-damaged that they should not be lived in.
It was straight back to work on Monday 11 March for the gracious tradie Sam Goode, who is already thinking about his next charity experience.
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 21 March 2023
