April 9, 2020
NEWS PHOTO MO CRANKER
Curtis Kergen and his wife Sandy stand with a used trailer at their Cactus RV lot on Thursday. The pair is donating a handful of RVs to local health workers in need of a place to isolate away from their loved ones.
MO CRANKER
Curtis and Sandra Kergen have been watching their daughter work every day as a registered nurse and decided they wanted to do something to help health care workers.
The couple operate Cactus RV in Medicine Hat and have been married for 37 years. As the COVID-19 pandemic drags on, they have heard about, and seen health workers being forced to isolate from their loved ones.
Recently, the couple decided it would set apart three RVs for local healthcare workers forced to self-isolate to use during the pandemic. They are not charging anything for the RV stay.
“Our daughter works at the ER here in town, we know she might be forced to isolate at some point,” said Curtis. “We decided to poke around and see if anyone needed a place to stay during this because of isolation.
“So far we have two going out and we’ve heard from a couple more people.”
Curtis says one couple is in need of a trailer because the wife works in intensive care. Her husband is returning from Texas and will live in the trailer, so his wife can continue to live in their home.
The other is going to someone working in the surgical suite. She is forced to isolate herself from everyone in order to safely go to work every day.
“We’re getting these units set up and ready to go for these people in need,” said Curtis. “We’re delivering them to people and letting them know they can live in them for as long as they need – no charge.
“We just wanted to do our part during this time.”
Curtis says the business is not able to give out many more than three units at a time, but would consider a couple more if the demand is there.
“The problem is that we need to keep these safe and running,” he said. “If we ever run into trouble with any of the units and have to send someone in to fix something, we’re then at risk of the virus.
“If people are in need, they can contact us here at the business and we will see what we can do.
“We’re trying to help out where we can – it’s the right thing to do.”
