Doing their thing and what they do best

After wiping off the sweat from her brow, Freeporter, Joyn Garbo picked up the hedge trimmer, pressed her finger on the trigger and squeezed the hand grip to start trimming down one of the bushes on Aug. 19 during the Friends of Freeport cleanup of the Historical Society’s back yard. Twice a year the FOF volunteers help pull weeds and clear the backyard at the Historical Society located at South Main Street.

“It’s wonderful [to have FOF] help us,” Cynthia Krieg, president of the Freeport Historical Society said. “It’s what makes Freeport the great place that it is because everyone is willing to help out.”

The volunteer driven and not-for-profit organization supports everyone in Freeport in need of a helping hand. Originally the organization started in efforts to help families struggling to recover from Hurricane Sandy. Almost five years later, the organization continues to provide support to families still struggling to return to their homes. However, the scope of the efforts extends beyond Hurricane Sandy and has expanded into helping neighbors with yard clean ups, planting plants or renovations.

“When we started out, after Sandy, we worked on like 200 houses,” Stan Solomsohn, FOF volunteer said. “I continued to stay with the people, [FOF] to help. I made a lot of new friends here.”

In a single morning, the weeds in the backyard were pulled, the grass was cut and the hedges were trimmed.

More recently, FOF has extended support to the William Clinton Story Post 342 who is renovating their new location at South Ocean Avenue at the Nautical Mile. According to Lois Howes, president of FOF once the renovations are completed, the Green Thumbs, subcommittee of FOF, is planning to help beautify the grounds with plants and bushes.