Some days remind you why community matters so much. Recently, our team spent the day in Mountain Home, Idaho, helping a woman named Edith Kain.
Edith had a patio door that was failing. There was a hole in it, allowing air to pour in, and another cold winter wasn’t far off. She had done what she could to make it work. Blankets lining the bottom. Curtains stuffed into the gaps. We found out, she had been living with the door in this condition for years. When one of our sales reps noticed the condition of the door and that Edith didn’t have the budget for the repair, it didn’t sit right. He reached out to our Boise General Manager, Kraig Chupp, and Sales Manager, Ken Miner, in a group text to explain what he’d seen. After a few quiet minutes, everyone replied with the same thought: we have to try to do something.
And that’s how a simple text turned into a community effort. Phone calls were made and email chains began. In a matter of days, volunteers came forward, excited to help. In the end, about 20 RbA team members showed up that day! Not just to replace a door, but to help however they could. While one group worked on installing the new patio door, others cleaned up Edith’s yard, fixed a side door, repaired sections of her fence, hauled debris to the dump, and tidied up her landscaping so she’d be ready for the colder months ahead. As the work wrapped up, Edith stepped back to look at her new door. “Oh, that is pretty,” she said, smiling. She was told something else that made the moment even more special. When Kraig started making phone calls to figure out how to make this happen, the size of door Edith needed happened to be the only door sitting in the warehouse.
“It was meant to be,” he told her. Edith agreed.
She thanked everyone again and again, sharing that the day felt like an answer to prayer. Those words stayed with the team. What started as a small act of care turned into something much bigger, a reminder that sometimes helping is simply about noticing a need and taking the time to listen.
Kraig put words to what we all felt: Edith is part of the community, and taking care of people in your community is what’s at the heart of everything.
Being able to show up for her was a privilege. This wasn’t about windows or doors or a
company name. It was about neighbors helping a neighbor…and people coming together because it was the right thing to do. We’re grateful to everyone who showed up for Edith, and to Edith herself for reminding us all what community really looks like.
If you’d like to see the full story unfold, you can watch the video here. It captures the day far better than words ever could.
From all of us at Renewal by Andersen, Happy Holidays.
