My name is Rusty Anderson, and I live in Ketchikan, Alaska. I came here in 2010 and quickly fell in love with this community. I have always worked with my hands in food service, maintenance, and construction, but what really matters to me is helping people. Working with a local senior day care center, Rendezvous, I was asked to fix an elderly woman’s hot water heater. I bought a new one, installed it, and she finally had hot water again. Two weeks later her daughter told me she had passed away.

That moment changed me. I decided I would start helping seniors and people who could not afford repairs or could not do the work themselves. I opened a Pay It Forward account at a local lumber and hardware store so anyone in town could donate toward materials.

The community stepped up immediately. When someone needs help with a deck, a ramp, or a handrail, they reach out and we make it happen. Sometimes I post a project online and within a few days people donate money or supplies. I never charge for my time. I just enjoy helping people.

Most times it is not just about fixing something. When I visit, people want to talk and tell stories about their lives here. Sometimes they cry when the project is finished. Sometimes they hug me. Every time I walk away knowing they are safer, and that makes me happy.

I have helped cook meals for families after the landslide and dressed up as Santa to hand out gifts to kids at Christmas. That is what being part of a community means to me. You give what you can. It is not about money or recognition. It is about being there for each other.

Helping others gives me purpose. I love people, I love Ketchikan, and I plan to keep building as long as there is someone who needs a hand.