Lester Partners With New York Says Thank You Foundation On 9/11 Anniversary Rebuilding Project in Greensburg, KS
September 11, 2008

Previously, we reported about this 9/11 anniversary project underwritten in part by Lester Buildings, which is now in the midst of being completed. Over three days, September 4 through September 7, 2008, the main group of nearly 200 volunteers from all corners of the U.S., (including 30 or so FDNY firefighters) descended on Greensburg, KS to help four volunteer Lester dealers erect the building.

Over 3" of rain on Friday and Saturday turned the site into a slough but the group carried on with a spirit that can only be described as stunning. While the conditions prevented the final framing from being completed, everyone, especially the residents of Kiowa County, KS, went home Sunday, following an emotional town ceremony, feeling a sense that something that really mattered was accomplished.

Lester Buildings Area Manager John Atkinson and three Lester Kansas dealers, Brackney Construction and Supply (Mark Brackney - lead site supervisor), K-Construction (Joe & Karla Kormanik and son Ben), Triple B Construction (Brandy Berntsen) and a Missouri Lester dealer, Bob Lotspeich (SL Construction), deserve credit and thanks for supervising the hundreds of volunteers over the three day project. The project will be completed in the coming weeks by lead supervisor, Brackney Construction and Supply.

Lester Building Systems was honored to play a part in this project and extends a heart-felt "Thank You" to all the volunteers who came to Greensburg to "pay it forward" who really made this effort possible. We wish nothing but the best for the residents of Greensburg and Kiowa County

View an on-the-scene report by an Wichita TV station.

Project Notes

Charlie Vitchers, the Ground Zero site clean-up supervisor following 9/11, was a new notable who came to Greensburg to help. Along with him came Pia Hofmann, a New Yorker whose job every day for nearly nine months was to clean up debris and recover remains at Ground Zero, using a huge excavator and crane. She was one of the few women among the construction workers of Ground Zero and the only female crane operator in NYC. Expertly operating a boom crane in wet, muddy condition to lift trusses to the top of the Lester building in Greensburg, she earned the respect of everyone on site. Charlie and Pia are featured in a documentary being produced about the roots and ongoing efforts of the New York Says Thank You Foundation. See pre-release movie trailer here.

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