JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- "All Terry Lane wants for Christmas is a sewage
lift station" was the first line in a Times-Union article back in 2009.
Well, he got one. And flooding from Debby damaged it.
"The
water level has come up so high that it pushed the entire lift system
up out of the ground. So we are shut down completely," Lane said.
That has volunteers like Tiffani Jones and Corbin Miles concerned.
"I kinda fear of what the children might get into without it," Miles said.
Lane
says the center provides daily programs to nearly 150 kids from the
community each month, which often includes learning and a hot meal.
Jones says it's a harbor for them to escape everyday life.
"This
is where they come to to let their hair down and just be a kid and not
worry about the crime or the violence. If this place closes down, a lot
of children will have no where to go," said Jones.
Since the
building can't connect to the city's main line, it needs this lift
station -- which grinds and pumps everything back out to the main line.
Miles' 6 year old stepson, Jamal, has been coming to the center for the past 4 to 5 months.
"I like swinging on the swings, sliding and I love eating," Jamal said.
Jamal said he would feel sad if he couldn't go to the center any more.
Lane
estimates it will take about $5,000 to $10,000 to repair the lift
station. A cost he says will have to come out of pocket. Until then ...
"We don't have any water, we don't have any sewage, we have to shut down," Pastor Terry
First Coast News