Heavy lifting
Meyers touched by volunteers who helped him relocate to Pueblo
Greg Meyers didn’t have many words on Saturday as he watched more than a dozen volunteers make quick work of his packed storage unit. They moved boxes and belongings into a moving truck that soon would be driven to Meyers’ new home in Pueblo.
Meyers, 49, moved to Lyons in 2013 but relocated last month. He said he was influenced to leave by the lack of community response after J.J. Hoffman, a former fire chief who is white, posted comments on
social media that many — Meyers included — felt were racist.
Meyers, who is Black, shared his story in a Colorado Public Radio article, but said he never expected it would garner the attention it did.
Since the article published, Meyers said he’s received some backlash. It was never his intention to receive attention for sharing the story, he said. But still, he was touched by the community support on Saturday.
“This is unbelievable,” he said, watching from the side of the U-haul truck.
The Boulder County Collective, a group that formed this summer to create a more-inclusive Boulder County, decided to help Meyers by coordinating the Saturday event.
A group of volunteers helped pack up the Longmont storage unit, loaded everything into a moving truck and drove it to Pueblo. Meyers had heart surgery recently, which made moving even more challenging.
Hermine Ngnomire started the county collective following protests she helped coordinate in Boulder and Longmont.
The group was born out of a desire not just to
“wake people up, have them join in on the movement, but be inspired to take action politically through the systems for change,” she said.
Ngnomire felt offering Meyers moving assistance was the perfect way to support Black lives in a positive way.
Lorne Jenkins and his sister, Alyssa, are among those who helped coordinate Saturday’s volunteer event. Lorne gave Alyssa all the credit for working with Ngnomire to set it up, though Alyssa couldn’t be there in person because she was out of town. The family saw the article about the incident and knew they had to find a way to support Meyers.
“It’s not anything you ever want to hear about,” Lorne said. “Moving is never enjoyable in the first place, but it’s tough to move under less-than-ideal circumstances.”
While the past cannot be changed, volunteers Saturday agreed they all could play a role in creating a better future — for Meyers and all Boulder County residents.
“We can’t really change the situation of what happened, but at least we can make it easier for him to get to a place where he wants to be,” Lorne said.
Longmont’s Skinny Wimp Moving Co. volunteered to assist with the move. Eric Nei, who works for Skinny Wimp, said he heard about the volunteer opportunity on social media and thought it would be a great way to give back.
As a moving company employee, he loves packing up and helping with moves, but Nei also said he saw Saturday’s event as a subtle way to “stick it to the man.”