OLEAN â When Dan Spring of Pleasant Valley Greenhouses & Nursery called Genesis House over a week ago to see if anyone who was low-income could use a Christmas tree, he learned of a homeless family that needed much more than that to make their holidays bright.
After learning that, Spring appealed to the community to help a homeless mom and her two children at the Genesis House shelter. The response was a landslide in donations of food, furniture and holiday gifts for the family.
Spring, who manages Pleasant Valley on Route 16 in Olean, said he initially was informed by Deb Westcott, executive director of Genesis House, of the plight of Lamara Shattuck and her two children, Trent, 13, and Maddie, 10.