Mariana Ramos
The current weather and massive snowstorm sweeping Chicago may have most adults and children hanging out at home enjoying the warmth. No school is nice, but no work? No work means no money…Unless you find yourself in need of extra cash.
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But others are wasting no time making money off the white stuff that will continue to fall throughout the weekend. According to Washington Post, a resident from Chatham, Jahmal Cole, got a massive amount of messages in his inbox with requests from elderly neighbors: They needed help shoveling in front of their homes. Some had to get relatives to a hospital. Others had oxygen tanks and were afraid of being trapped.
So Cole sent out a tweet Friday night asking for 10 volunteers to come to his neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, to shovel the foot of snow that was accumulating. Chatham is a community that’s largely elderly. When he went to the train station Saturday morning to see whether anyone had showed up to help, he couldn’t believe what he saw.
About 120 people stood on the platform, many with shovels, ready to work. They came from all backgrounds and all parts of the city:
“The people who showed up, they showed that whether people have privilege or don’t have privilege, everyone recognizes a need,” said Cole, a community organizer.
CBS 2’s Dorothy Tucker talked to Sergio Fernandez who was clearing his driveway with a snow plow. He’s also buying salt from a nearby hardware store to make sure no one slips and falls. That means the hardware store is making money.
They’re not alone, those armed with snow shovels are walking door-to-door to make money in neighborhoods like Chatham. Tucker says they’re getting in the neighborhood of $20 an hour for their efforts.
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Tucker adds that there are big companies who come by to clear off what others can’t, due to the amount of snow however, the pay amount has been doubled. So if you’re in need of some extra cash- get a shovel and get out there!
