A SMALL community has rallied around a much-loved elderly resident fighting cancer as he faced daily fines over the state of his yard.
Joe Daley from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, was reportedly given 30 days to clear up his property or be hit with daily fines until the issue was resolved.
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The 78-year-old, who has been battling cancer for four years, was left begging locals for help after garbage and other debris built up around his property.
After receiving a notice from the city of Ocean Springs, Daley contacted John Joiner, the president of the Distinguished Gentlemen of Ocean Springs organization.
The community group helps support others in the area while hoping to “inspire the younger generation,” according to its Facebook page.
After hearing from Daley, Joiner reached out to his contacts to help the senior avoid fines.
“[I] put some things out on Facebook and people have showed up today to just do their part,” Joiner told local ABC/CBS affiliate WLOX.
Over a series of weekends, members of the community attended cleanup events at Daley’s home.
Cathleen Sutton praised Joiner’s efforts in a Facebook post saying, “You rallied the troops and we all just followed.
“Your outreach provided manpower and a ton of folks that donated to help us get his property cleaned up.”
Volunteers included owners of cleaning businesses and high school friends as well as other residents like Cathleen Cochran-Sutton who pushed people to join in.
“I saw Mr. Joe at one of the local restaurants here in town and heard about his story, heard that he had to go back to court, and if he didn’t have his property cleaned up, he’d face daily fines,” Sutton told the news outlet.
“So, at that point, I just posted some stuff on Facebook, linked up with Joiner and we just got a group of people together to come out and do a random act of kindness.”
“We just love Mr. Joe. He’s a great man, a kind soul.”
In a Facebook update, Joiner said that the charges against Daley were dropped following the cleanup efforts.
“All smiles today because all charges were dropped by the City of Ocean Springs against Joe Daley,” he wrote.
“I would like to thank everyone who donated and or assisted in cleaning the debris from around his home.”
“It makes me feel good inside to know there are still good people out there who are willing to assist someone in need,” he added.
Joiner shared before and after photographs of Daley’s property.
He walked out of the OS Municipal court today singing Hallelujah!
Cathleen Cochran-Sutton
The scale of the job faced by the volunteers is evident from the masses of debris and junk around the property.
With fallen fences, thrown-out garden and home items, rotten wooden pallets, and other miscellaneous items, it is clear that without help Daley would not have been able to clean up his home.
Following the huge operation, the white-fronted home can be easily seen from the road with all surrounding debris gone and the fences tidied up.
“Wow! What a wonderful transformation!” one user said.
Meanwhile, the owner of one of the local cleaning companies who helped out offered Daley monthly cleaning visits.
In her own update, Sutton claimed that she was with Daley when he visited the court to hear that the charges against him were dropped.
“He walked out of the OS Municipal court today singing Hallelujah!” she said.
“My time at the end of today in municipal court sitting next to Mr Joe was well spent and I loved every minute of it.”
The U.S. Sun has contacted the city of Ocean Springs for comment.
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