The Rotary Club of Gainesville celebrated a milestone Saturday as club members and volunteers installed its 50th ramp at the home of Hall County resident Frank Slaton.

Work got under way around 8 a.m. and went well into the afternoon. To break up the day, a morning snack and lunch was provided to volunteers.

The ramp was a particularly large undertaking for the club. The project consisted of 35 feet of ramp in two sections, an intermediate landing, a platform buildup on the porch, pickets and a concrete slab making a smooth transition from the wooden ramp to the driveway.

For recipients, there is no cost of receiving a ramp. Labor is strictly on a volunteer basis, and the club owns the tools to use in projects. Additionally, local business help offset the costs providing materials at a discount.

Brian Gracey, co-chair of the Rotary Club’s ramp program, explained that the club will take donations from its ramp recipients.

“Even though there is no charge for ramps, we offer recipients the opportunity to make a contribution toward the cost of materials. This offers a sense of ownership and participation by the recipient, but is by no means a requirement to getting a ramp.”

And this project was going to be one of the largest ramp undertakings for Gainesville’s club.

“This will be one of the largest ramps that we’ve built,” said Gracey. “A few of our volunteers have some construction experience, but most have learned by watching and doing.”

Volunteers varied from teenagers to those in their 70s and 80s. Gabrielle Diaz, a junior at Gainesville High School, had come to help the club build its 50th ramp after already having worked on four prior ones.

As a member of the Interact Club at school, a youth-oriented service organization, and daughter of a Rotary Club member, Diaz said volunteering was something in which she found delight.

“I just really enjoy doing it because it’s a hands-on way of helping,” she explained.

The ramp recipient’s nephew, Ronnie Woodard, said that without the Rotary Club’s help, his uncle would not have been able to get a ramp.

“He was going to put in a ramp himself, but he couldn’t afford it,” Woodard explained.

“It’s a great thing they do. A lot of people couldn’t have a ramp without them. This is really going to help him a lot,” he said.

Woodard explained that although the actual construction didn’t begin until Saturday, Rotary members were out several days prior to begin getting the layout ready.

Bonnie Oliver, Gainesville’s Rotary Club president and member since 1999, said these projects are all about helping a others in need.

“It represents a commitment by the Gainesville Rotary Club to meet a community need on an ongoing basis,” she said.

Gracey echoed her sentiments, saying the project “will be all about teamwork, fellowship and doing something constructive in the community.”