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The residents of Plainsville enjoyed a block party hosted by Royal Plus DKI….the firm that specializes in property restoration from damage caused by wind, water, fire and mold…….and in this case, floods….specifically those brought on a few weeks ago by Hurricane Irene.  Most of us came through Irene unscathed, but not the residents of Plainsville.  They took it on the proverbial chin and Royal Plus decided to take a Saturday and provide them with a party in hopes of lifting their spirits…….more coverage of this event can be found in the Citizen’s Voice…Just click here

The flood of 2011

October 8

Overwhelmed By His Generosity

Man whose firm is helping clean Plainsville business aids entire neighborhood.

MATT HUGHES mhughes@timesleader.com

PLAINS TOWNSHIP – Residents of Plainsville have trouble putting into words all that Matt Odachowski and his company have done for their community.

Matt Odachowski (foreground), founder and president of Royal Plus, Inc., a Maryland-based disaster-cleanup company, has lent dehumidifier units free of charge to resident Ken Stephens (on porch) and more than 60 other residents of the low-lying Plainsville neighborhood in Plains Township, which was hit hard by recent flooding. He is helping connect residents with free equipment and professional cleaning supplies and today will host a block party for residents.

The family also needed power, so he asked one of the contracting companies working with Luzerne Products, Amp Electric Inc., to hook the family up to its power supply. 

“I was overwhelmed by his generosity,” said Beverly Condo of Robert Street. “I was born and raised here, 63 years. This was my grandparents’ home. … Nobody has ever done that much for us in our lifetime.”

Odachowski’s Maryland-based disaster-cleanup company, Royal Plus Inc., has for the past two weeks been working for a client in the Luzerne Products building in Plainsville, a low-lying and oft-flooded section of Plains Township.

Odachowski and his employees have distributed more than 60 dehumidifier units for residents of Plainsville. He also is helping connect residents with free equipment and professional cleaning supplies and today will host a block party for residents in Plainsville’s park.

Odachowski, 44, said his company typically tries to reach out to neighbors whenever they come to a disaster-struck community by passing out food, water and cleaning supplies, and he can pinpoint the moment he realized how desperately Plainsville needed help.

About a week ago, he was passing by a home on Courtright Street across from Royal Plus’ staging area at Luzerne Products and saw a family cleaning out its flood-damaged home.

“They had a basement, and they were having trouble getting some furniture out of the basement, so we stopped to help them out,” Odachowski said. “That’s when I realized that they were staying there.

“Just seeing the kids with mud on their clothes, mud all over the place, sitting around on lawn chairs with one heater and it’s starting to get cold at night. It was really a wake-up call … My heart sank when I saw those kids.”

Help and treats

Realizing the family’s refrigerator had been destroyed by flooding, Odachowski was able to locate a donated refrigerator for the family and filled it with food as a surprise, making sure to include Tastykake snacks for the children.

The family also needed power, so he asked one of the contracting companies working with Luzerne Products, Amp Electric Inc., to hook the family up to its power supply.

And to help dry the house out, he loaned the family one of Royal Plus’ industrial-strength desiccant units, essentially a 10-foot tall dehumidifier.

Odachowski next asked neighbor Ken Stevens, of 181 Courtright Street, if he would like a dehumidifier for his home.

Stevens said he was dumbstruck by the offer.

“He said I’ve got 80 units coming,” Stevens said, “but you need to go around to all the neighbors who have power and find out who else needs one.”

The 60 to 80 neighbors were similarly overwhelmed.

“I know the one neighbor tried renting one,” Stevens said. “It was $250 a week just to rent one, and he got one for everybody. … I don’t ask nothing from nobody. Humbled is probably the best word for (how I feel).”

“That’s way over and above what anybody needs to do,” said George Owen of Robert Street. “Just the dehumidifiers alone were a godsend. We appreciate them.”

More supplies obtained

Odachowski has reached out to his contractors and vendors to obtain cleaning supplies and other goods for residents. Vendors Benefect and Aramsco donated supplies, and Slade Smith of Minnesota-based Industrial Hygiene Consulting is drafting a set of directions for residents using them.

“Whenever we are in a community, we try to lend a helping hand and provide some resources to at least get them moving in the right direction,” Smith said.

“Our motto in our company is, ‘being positive is contagious,’” Odachowski said. “We’re trying to show some positivity so they can move forward.”

“This is real bad; these people were devastated,” he continued. “The only thing I can do is encourage everybody to please help this community. They need it.”

Once again we are participating in the “build” of a home for the Extreme Makeover team. This time it’s in Lewes, De. The lucky new owner is the founder of a soup kitchen and helps feed numerous people every day. Our last project with the EMHE team was a group home for young people in Baltimore. The great thing about something like this is the fact that it is done completely by volunteers and donations. Some greater than others but all necessary to create a new home for deserving people who otherwise would go without some of the things that many of us take for granted. We will be providing “drying” services. This will most likely entail the use of desiccant drying machines to dry the “mud” on the drywall seams. This will allow the painters to get started much faster than they ordinarily would. Everything is sped up. That’s how they get it done in a week. It’s amazing to watch. If you are in the area, stop by and see for yourself. You might just get on TV. In additon to that, you can check out video from the project we did with them last year in Baltimore. Just click here. That project turned into an actual disaster due to heavy rains but fortunately we were able to help out.

Royal Plus Inc. is proud to have received a Safety Award from IWIF. The award is for “Outstanding Commitment to Workplace Safety”. Accepting the award on behalf of Royal Plus is the company’s Health, Safety and Fleet Manager, Dennis Lawson. The award was presented by Nicole Brushmiller of Smith, Cropper and Deely on March 10, 2011.

The Bringle's with their award

As you know, Royal Plus has always been a “Family”.  What you may not know is that our Key West Team has taken that to heart by actually including the whole family.  That family of course is the Bringle’s.  Scott, Tammy and their children Destiny & Dalton.  As a team, they promote who we are and what we do in almost every aspect of their lives.  This includes sponsoring local little league football teams, working the concession stands at seafood festivals and  serving on various committees and community boards.  They do so much of this that Scott has been asked to serve on the Board of Directors for the Lower Keys Chamber of Commerce and the entire Bringle family has been honored as “Volunteers of The Year”.  They work very hard to make sure that RP is fast becoming a household name in the Keys and we want them to know that it is appreciated.  Please congratulate them when you have a chance and just for fun, ask one of the kids for a business card………..believe it or not…they’ll hand you one because they each carry them in their book bags for school…now that’s dedication!

C&R Magazine published a story on the restoration of the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville, TN.  For the complete article written by Patti Harman, please click here  Cleaning Restoration Nashville Article

Challenge:
During the second week of June in 2008, Central Iowa encountered one of the worst floods in its history. Both the Cedar River and Iowa River were rising to record levels causing road closures and power outages throughout the area. At the center of the flood ravaged area was Mercy Medical Center. Mercy is a 917-bed acute care, not-for-profit hospital situated on three campuses in Des Moines, Iowa. The situation caused the relocation of 176 patients to other hospitals in the area. ( Read the full article.. )

One Monday morning last month, I arrived at work to find that torrential downpours in the southeast had flooded the Tennessee capital of Nashville over the weekend.  Apparently the Cumberland River rose to 13 feet above flood stage, eventually causing an estimated $1 Billion dollars in damage and killing more than 30 people.  This flood had the potential to become one of the worst natural disasters in US history.  While the rest of the country was focused on the Times Square Bomber, The Oil Spill in the Gulf (which was new at the time) and the escapades of Jesse James and heartbreak of Sandra Bullock, I was on my way to Nashville.  ( Read the full article.. )

We were driving around Galveston when we spotted a parking lot full of command post-type vehicles. The satellite dishes could be seen from everywhere. Four-by-four trucks were parked three or four deep. What was this place? I had to stop and see – guess I am just inquisitive, which helps when you are playing reporter. Boy, am I glad I did. 

I met the neatest guy Matt Odachowski, president of Royal Plus Disaster Kleenup. Matt said that their business was helping business get back on their feet to be able to help the residents help themselves. What a goal is that! ( Read the full article.. )