Super Volunteer Andrew Hildebrandt Gives St. Louis HELP a "Lift"

More than 60 people donate time as volunteers for the not-for-profit St. Louis Health Equipment Lending Program (St. Louis HELP) yet no one as much as Andrew Hildebrandt.

Andrew, age 36, has spent more time volunteering for St. Louis HELP than any other person despite being a busy husband, father and businessman. He averages between five and ten hours of volunteer time per week.

“My wife Rebecca and I are grateful to be associated with St. Louis HELP,” says Andrew.

“It’s great that metro St. Louis has a unique program like St. Louis HELP, which assists so many people by lending home health equipment to anyone for free.”

“Thousands of people have benefited from the organization since it was founded in 2008,” he says. “It is a wonderful human services organization.”

St. Louis HELP freely loans wheelchairs, hospital beds, walkers, crutches, shower chairs, tub benches, grab bars, portable commodes, lift chairs, pediatric equipment and additional medical equipment to any person, caregiver or family at absolutely no cost. (http://www.stlhelp.org).

It collects about 11,000 items of donated home health equipment annually in twice-a-year equipment drives and via donations of equipment that people bring to its warehouse during the year. All donated equipment is cleaned and reconditioned by a team of skilled craftsmen and volunteers. Each year, St. Louis HELP diverts about 140 tons of equipment that would otherwise end up in landfills.

“The volunteer work that Rebecca and I do with St. Louis HELP is very enjoyable – the core group of people who volunteer are totally committed to the mission and we have been very fortunate to have met many great friends since becoming involved with St. Louis HELP.”

Andrew met Rebecca in 2004 through mutual friends and then they married in 2008, the same year both began volunteering with St. Louis HELP. The Hildebrandts have two children – Dylan, age 14, and Allie, age ten, both of whom are talented young musicians. Dylan plays guitar, bass, drums, piano and violin; Allie (Alexandra) plays cello in her school orchestra.

In 2015, Rebecca was elected to St. Louis HELP’s board of directors, a position she relishes because “everyone involved is a special person,” she says.

Andrew is an asset for St. Louis HELP – and people who donate used home health items to the organization -- because of his professional skills as a Journeyman carpenter and mobility equipment specialist.

He completed a five-year apprenticeship after high school and has specialized in making homes and buildings accessible for those with disabilities or mobility issues ever since.

Andrew and Rebecca operate Hildebrandt Mobility and Lift, a family-owned company based in South St. Louis County that provides and installs stair lifts, home elevators, wheelchair ramps, wheelchair lifts and ceiling lifts.

The Hildebrandts co-founded the firm after Andrew was trying to help a friend with terminal cancer safely navigate stairs in his home and discovered that there is a lack of qualified stair lift companies in the St. Louis area.

So Andrew installed a stair lift for his friend and, soon, Hildebrandt Mobility and Lift was born.

(http://www.hildebrandtmobility.com/)

These days, when a person donates a used stair lift or similar type of mobility equipment to St. Louis HELP Andrew volunteers to remove the stair lift from the donor’s residence and, after inspection and/or repair, to install it at the recipient’s residence for a fraction of the cost of a new machine.

Since the recipient pays only a small charge for operating costs and parts needed to retrofit the lifts to their home – and not for the machine itself – Hildebrandt Mobility is able to help those whose situation prevents them from purchasing a new lift device.

“Thanks to St. Louis HELP, we have been able to help quite a number of people stay in their homes who would have otherwise been forced to move.” Andrew says.

The Hildebrandts also participate in the organization’s special events, such as its twice-a-year equipment donation drives that occur in May and October.

“The whole family gets involved with the equipment drives, including our kids and dog Snoopy. Rebecca and the kids stop by the warehouse and lend a helping hand when they can.

“It’s a family affair and we love it.”

Laura Cannon-Singer, executive director of St. Louis HELP, founded the nonprofit organization in 2008. She says, “Andrew, Rebecca and their children are wonderful people – everybody who meets them feels the same way – they really like the Hildebrandts.”

To meet the Hildebrandts, plan to attend St. Louis HELP’s “Wine at the Warehouse,” an evening of savory food, fun, music, raffles and great wines on Thursday, September 14, 2017, hosted by St. Louis HELP at its lending warehouse in Olivette.

For ticket information, please contact St. Louis HELP at 314 567 4700, email cannonstlhelp@yahoo.com or see the website http://www.stlhelp.org.

To receive free loans of home health equipment items from St. Louis HELP, call 567 4700. Leave a message noting the type of equipment you need and your phone number. Your call will be returned within two days. Thank you!

***