Air Force vet builds desks for students learning at home during coronavirus
Jim Lemanek ‘had to contribute something’ during pandemic.
— When the coronavirus pandemic started, Jim Lemanek wanted to do something to help others, even though he is immunocompromised.
After seeing a segment on the news about a California man who was making desks for kids who were learning remotely, Lemanek decided to give that a try. He has made 68 desks to date for students learning at home.
Lemanek aims to give the desks to kids in need or whose parents have been out of work because of the pandemic.
“You get a real sense of you did something good for somebody,” he said. “Most of them are going to kids who really need it.”
Lemanek, a retired Air Force veteran, has rheumatoid arthritis. The treatment for that basically shuts down his immune system, the 76-year-old said.
“I have to go to Lowes to hand pick the lumber, that’s the only thing that takes me out some place,” Lemanek said. “I just had to find something. I had to contribute something.”
The desks are free as long as the recipient can pick it up. Twelve desks have gone to students in Beavercreek. The other desks have gone to students all over, from Cincinnati to Columbus.
Lemanek said he gave a desk to a woman from Columbus who has been unemployed since March and she has two children learning remotely. Now her children no longer have to work from the dining room table.
“If I can find somebody that needs a desk and I can get them a desk, I’d be just tickled,” Lemanek
said.
Lemanek finds homes for the desks via Facebook Marketplace. His wife of more than 50 years, Sharon, handles that side of the operation. They have lived in Beavercreek since 1983.
Lemanek said he got his first saw when he was 18 and he’s been “playing with
wood” ever since.
The Beavercreek Air Force Junior ROTC program recognized Lemanek this month for his desk-making efforts with a Citizen of Character award.
SMSgt. David Mackey teaches the Beavercreek ROTC program. He lives across the street from Lemanek and has seen him working on the desks in his garage.
“He’s the kind of guy we
want our kids to emulate,” Mackey said. “He epitomizes everything we try to espouse.”
The mission of Air Force Junior ROTC is to “develop citizens of character dedicated to serving their nation and community,” Mackey said. The ROTC program has 165 cadets, making it one of the largest in Ohio, and started in the 2018-2019 school year.
Lemanek has spent well over $1,000 getting materials,
Mackey said. It takes Lemanek about 20 hours to make 12 desks. The desk tops are four-feet by two-feet and the wood is unfinished. The desks are topped with melamine wood.
“So if they want to paint the desk, they can,” Lemanek said.
Lemanek said he’s gotten pictures from several students who painted their desks all the colors of the rainbow.