AMHERST – When one of George Miller’s co-workers got sick he felt he had to do something to help.
When she moved to Amherst and went to work at Kent Building Supplies, Nicole Clark became good friends with Miller. She asked him for advice on finding a new home for her and her husband and he helped her find a contractor to do home renovations.
She also told him when she was pregnant and shared in the celebration. Then came the news everyone who knew her dreaded. She had cancer.
“She said she wasn’t felling herself and she was feverish. She thought it was related to her pregnancy, but when her doctor sent her for a blood test they found the cancer,” Miller said.
Soon after she was diagnosed, doctors delivered a healthy baby girl and she began chemotherapy treatments in Halifax for non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
Her friends have come together to try to raise some money to help the young family cope through tough times.
Miller said she hadn’t worked at the store long enough to qualify for benefits, while her husband was working on a job contract that didn’t include benefits. Left with no financial support and battling a life-threatening illness while caring for a newborn made life challenging for the young family.
“I felt it’s the right thing to do, the human thing to do,” Miller said. “It’s a good cause and I’m happy to help.”
Miller was given permission by Kent to hold a barbecue at the store every Friday in support of Clark. Along with hotdogs, hamburgers and pop, Miller also sells tickets on various items donated by the community.
Enter Rev. Don Miller, George’s brother and the creator of the popular Bent Cottage birdhouses. George approached Don about donating a birdhouse to the effort. Not only did he do that, but he donated three – one of which has a golfing theme.
“It was the least I could do, it was such an important cause and the family definitely needed some help,” the birdhouse creator said. “It’s really something to hear of these contractors coming in with a gruff exterior and finding out how soft they are inside.”
George said he hopes to raise about $300 each week to help Clark.
dcole@amherstdaily.com
