Community
Being Neighborly | Volunteer handyman repairs local woman’s faith in humanity
Being Neighborly is a monthly newsletter highlighting people doing good things in our community.
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We want this column to showcase how someone in the community — a stranger, neighbor, teacher, classmate, anyone — has helped someone else. It could be a small act of kindness or a big one: Has someone tracked you down when you’ve lost your wallet? Did someone lead you to a resource that made your life easier? Were you encouraged by a stranger while having a tough day? Send your submissions for the Being Neighborly column to [email protected]. And click here to receive Being Neighborly early as a newsletter.
What may seem insignificant to one person can mean a lot to another. When Clarence Mollenhauer Jr. read Lillian Hunter’s plea for help with a small project on a community Facebook page, he reached out to offer his skills.
It was the week before Christmas. Lillian Hunter walked out to her mailbox to find it had been tampered with. Her neighbors’ mailboxes were open as well.
“I’m retired,” Hunter said. “I moved to the Gig Harbor area from Tacoma last year to be closer to my sister. I was expecting some packages, and my neighbor lost some more valuable packages than I did. I was a bit crestfallen all the way around.”
She decided to purchase a new, more-secure mailbox. The problem became how to get the old one removed and the new one installed.
When Lillian Hunter’s mailbox was vandalized the week before Christmas, she reached out on social media to ask for a handyman. What she got was a neighbor who prefered to donate his time as a neighborly gesture. She needed help to install the new mailbox that she purchased, and Clarence Mollenhauer showed up with tools to help. She plans to turn her old mailbox into a birdhouse. Photo courtesy of Lillian Hunter
She had neither the tools nor the ability, she said. That’s when she reached out on social media to see if anyone could recommend a handyman for hire.
Instead, she found someone who just wanted to do a good deed.
“I had a number of people expressing regrets that it happened, and I appreciate all of the feedback from neighbors that I haven’t met yet,” she said. “Clarence Mollenhauer sent a note and he’s a retired postal worker.”
Once her new mailbox arrived, Mollenhauer came with his tools. Hunter said he was exactly the person that she needed for the job.
Clarence Mollenhauer answered the call when Lillian Hunter needed someone to help replace her mailbox.
“Lickety-split he took the old one off the post, and put the new one on,” she said. “I wanted to pay him, and he said no, that he wanted to be a good neighbor.”
Hunter has sewing skills, so she suggested a trade: Her ability to sew, mend, hem, or patch clothing that Mollenhauer may need, in exchange for his help with the mailbox.
Although the connections that were made were done through unfortunate circumstances, Hunter said the result is a positive outcome all the way around in her opinion.
“I met a delightful person,” she said. “And the other thing that happened, I hadn’t met my neighbor yet, and Clarence said that he would install their mailbox as well.”
She said it was the first time she had a conversation with her neighbors beyond just a hello. It led to a real meeting.
“At the end of the day, I got to meet some lovely people in my neighborhood,” Hunter said. “I like to focus on the goodness around me. There is a happy ending here. Look for the good in people and you’ll be surprised what you find.”