A helping hand for a helper

fundraiser helps fireman's family with expenses


By CHRIS MEYERS
Staff writer

    For 16 years Carl Brown had dedicated his life to helping the community as a firefighter for Columbia Township.
Then, in an instant and with a simple turn of the neck, the future of his full-time career, livelihood as a firefighter and the provider to his family was in doubt, and the same community which he has served for many years came out to help in whatever  way it could.
    About seven weeks ago Brown suffered a ruptured disc in his neck that resulted in surgery and his being out of work ever since — without any option to receive disability pay from work until he could return.
    “For two and a half days I laid in a hospital bed in severe pain,” Brown said of his life while doctors tried to figure out the best solution.
    It turned out the solution he got was to have his vertebrate fused in his neck, which meant doctors had to go in through the front of his throat to get access, which has resulted in a long recovery.
    “To go from 40 or more hours of work a week to nothing is a shock,” Carl said of an income for his family. Heather receives $135 a week of unemployment, which is the only steady “income” the family now sees.
    The future for Brown, his wife Heather and their two children looked bleak to say the least until a massive community outpouring turned the tide — if only briefly.
    That outpouring came in the event of an all-you-can eat fish and tenderloin fry in Columbia City.
    Columbia City Police Officer Gary Parrett offered to close his restaurant, Big G’s, for a Saturday evening, which is usually a big night for the eatery.
    The fish fry turned out to be a big night too, with 270 pounds of fish and 320 tenderloins served in addition to gallons of coleslaw and other side dishes.
    “I’m glad I got the opportunity to give back … it was a great turnout,” Parrett said in a recent interview with the Browns. Parrett also uses the restaurant for other benefit fundraisers and sponsors many community events.
    “This is going to be used for house payments, car payments and other general stuff that needs to be paid,” Carl said of the more than $2,000 the family received from the benefit. Some locals who couldn’t make it to the dinner even stopped by Big G’s the next day to make donations to the cause.
    “We haven’t even paid our house payment yet for this month (September),” Heather said.
    But it wasn’t just Parrett’s sacrifice of his usual business that made the benefit possible. Even his own food providers dropped the price they sell him supplies at so the benefit could bring as much as possible to the Browns.
    “There’s a lot involved in setting up one of these … I didn’t make any money on it,” Parrett said of the event, which was just one of many charity events he does in conjuntion with the restaurant.
    In addition to the money from the fundraiser, some of the donations that are hoped to be received at an upcoming flag football tournament will also be given to the Browns — something they did not know about until the interview.
    “Words cannot express how much gratitude we have for Gary and Ronelle (Parrett) for all they’ve done,” Carl said.
Jim Bohnstedt, Columbia Township’s chief, helped get the ball rolling by contacting Parrett about the possibility of the charity event.
    “There were a lot of people there we didn’t even know,” Heather said, who has had to take on the role of caregiver to Carl as he recovers.
    “Through something like this you realize who your true friends are,” she added, fighting back the tears as she thanked Gary and Ronelle for all they did to make the event a success.
    If there can be a silver lining to this dark situation, to Heather it’s that the event showed how much of a difference one person can make in others’ lives. That one person in this case being Bohnstedt who made the initial call that got things started.
    She has also made it her “mission” to try to make as many people as possible aware that not all employers have disability options and other ways to help employees who have been injured.
    “We would have never thought we’d be without disability … my mission has been through all of this to tell people to have a backup plan,” Heather said.
    As for now, Carl continues to work through physical therapy and recovery with hopes of being able to return to work at Five Star Distributing — if his job is still there waiting on him — by the end of November or December.