Look Good Fund helps man keep his job

Wearing winter clothes purchased with money from the Look Good Fund, Keith Gowan will keep warm this winter clearing snow from the sidewalks at the I-86 rest area.

The way Keith Gowan sees it, if it weren’t for the Look Good Fund, he may not have a job this winter.

Keith, 21, works as a cleaner at the Interstate 86 rest area in Bemus Point.  He was hired in November 2009 as a member of The Resource Center’s Environmental Services crew.  Environmental Services performs janitorial work at dozens of area businesses, schools and government facilities.

Keith originally was hired as a seasonal worker at the rest area, with his main task being related to snow removal – shoveling, snowblowing and salting the sidewalks around the rest area.  But last winter, he did not have the right clothes for the job – the jacket he owned at the start of winter only made it halfway through the year.

But Keith lasted the winter, and he did such a good job with snow removal that he was hired full time to clean the men’s room.  This summer, with winter looming on the horizon, Keith realized he would need some warm clothes.  And that’s where the Look Good Fund stepped in.

The fund was created 10 years ago by Margaret Look, a former member of TRC’s Board of Directors.  Margaret started the fund because of her belief that sometimes, people with disabilities need a little bit of assistance in order to be more successful in life.  Since the fund was formed, it was assisted hundreds of individuals, including 86 people in the past year.

One of those people was Keith, who received money so that he could buy a winter jacket, boots, socks, gloves, and an orange hat to make him more visible while he is outside clearing sidewalks.  With his new clothes, Keith is eager for the snow to start flying.  And he’s grateful to Margaret and the Look Good Fund for their assistance.

“If I wouldn’t have had the warm clothes, I would have had to do it in my regular clothes,” Keith said.  “I wouldn’t be able to stay outside so long.  That may put my job in jeopardy.  My job means everything to me.  Without my job, I have no income or support or anything.  My job is my life.”

Keith, a 2007 Jamestown High School graduate, is an affable young man who has worked for Environmental Services for three years.  He started his career waxing and buffing floors, and his talents in that area led him to get additional recognition at his rest area job.  It seems that someone from the New York State Department of Transportation heard Keith bragging about his ability to clean floors.  The DOT official had Keith demonstrate on the floors at the State Police barracks at the rest area, and he did such a good job that he now is called upon when the floors need to be done.

(Keith offers these tips to homeowners – never use hot water to clean your waxed floors, as the water will heat up the wax and trap dirt; and in the winter, use a neutralizer to remove salt from your floors.)

Keith enjoys working at the rest area, which overlooks Chautauqua Lake.  He enjoys meeting travelers who stop by the rest area, and he hopes to save up enough money to buy a car and travel around the United States to sightsee.  He recently passed the test for his learner’s permit, and once he has his license he’ll be able to take on other Environmental Services cleaning accounts.

Keith enjoys being a cleaner, and he has a practical outlook: “I can’t think of a job I would like doing more.  It’s a good job because no matter what, you’re always going to need a cleaner.  It’s job security.”

Keith poses with Billie Jo Paris, who supervises his cleaning crew.

He had the chance to meet Margaret this fall when she visited Jamestown from her home in Montana to see her son, who receives supports from TRC.  Margaret, who was a reporter and editor at The Post-Journal from 1959 to 1977, write a column for The P-J.  Once a year she dedicates her column to the Look Good Fund, and she interviewed Keith.  The two hit it off well, and their meeting ended with the following exchange:

Margaret: “I think you’re quite a guy.”

Keith: “Thank you.  I think you’re quite a lady.”

Margaret’s column about Keith and the Look Good Fund appears in the November 6 issue of The Post-Journal.

A total of $11,487 was spent assisting 86 people through the Look Good Fund this past year.  The fund relies on private donations to raise the money needed to provide people with the things they need.  Click here to make a donation to support Margaret’s work through a donation to the Look Good Fund.  With your contribution, you can make a real difference in the life of a person with a disability.  A person like Keith.

“The fund really helped,” he said.  “I couldn’t be more happy.”

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