Some heroes wear capes, others leave apology notes. A mechanic from Cheektowaga in Eerie County, New York sheltered about 20 people, and two dogs, from the historic blizzard after breaking into a school. Jay Withey ventured out into the storm around 6pm, the day before Christmas Eve, to assist a friend who had called for help after getting stuck in the snow. While on his way to reach his friend, he found a man walking in the snow with light layers and gave him a ride to help him escape the wintry weather. While venturing on once again, Withey’s car also became trapped from the snow. Though he tried to dig the vehicle out, his efforts were futile with the quickly piling snow. As it became later in the night, Jay went out to find shelter for him and Mike, the stranger he helped. He knocked on multiple doors and even offered money to let them stay the night but none agreed. By the next morning, Jay had let another stranded person, Mary, escape the weather in his truck but they were cold, out of fuel, and needed resources to survive. That’s when Jay spotted a school nearby and made the decision to break in order to make it through another day. After breaking in with the help of his two new friends, Withey also found others in the immediate area that needed assistance. Some individuals were over the age of 50 while others had dogs. In the school they were comforted by the heat, found food, and mats to sleep on. By Christmas day they found snow blowers in the janitor’s closet to help release their vehicles from the snow. Jay stayed until 8pm on Christmas to make sure everyone was safe. Once everyone was gone, Jay left a note to apologize for the broken windows stating he was ‘just trying not to die’. #Blizzard