Story 7

Red & I worked Tuesday afternoon and evening for about six hours at the checkout desk, and I worked another five hours Friday afternoon.

One incident I was involved in concerned a man who had been taken to St. John's hospital earlier in the week. A friend of the man came by the church Friday to pick up his belongings, which had been left at the church when EMSA transported him to the hospital. The friend had quite a long list of personal belongings, plus two tanks of oxygen, which the patient needed since he was now home. The friend had a woman's name that said that she would take care of the patient's belongings. Searching the church's records indicated that the woman was not a church member, and no one knew who "Betty Roberts" was. So "Gus" who had been in the Command Headquarters of the Red Cross and I went searching for the oxygen tanks. I told the friend to please stay by the check-in and check-out desk and we would look for the items. The friend said, "It's been a bad day. You would think that it wouldn't be hard to find oxygen tanks". Gus and I went to the medical area and asked if they had seen any personal oxygen tanks, and they hadn't even seen the man who had been taken to the hospital. So Gus went to the gym area to look, saying if the items had been left there, he didn't feel that they would still be there. Meanwhile, I saw "Rick", the church's security guard and asked if he had seen any oxygen tanks. He asked if I had asked Doni, who works in the church office if she had any knowledge of the items. Rick got on his radio, and I told Gus that perhaps the items had been put under lock and key in the administrative office.

Meanwhile, I went back and told the friend what was happening. He then said, "I may need to come and check out this church." I told him to come Sunday and that there would be a Christmas program with the choir and the church orchestra at 9 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. I told him about what we normally had and that the church was one that believed in volunteerism and mission work. He said that he had put up all the Christmas decorations at the facility where he worked. The man also stated he didn't ever like a minister who yelled when giving his sermon. I told him, "Oh no, our minister doesn't do that. He tells jokes!" That brought a smile to the man's face...

The man said, "Where could those men be? Did they have to travel to another city to find the office?" I explained that the church was quite big, and the men could have been approached with someone else's problem and been delayed. Soon Rick and Gus came rolling in with a cart that held a big machine, two oxygen tanks, shoes, a robe, and a knit hat. The friend of the man who had been hospitalized left with a smile on his face and very glad that he had his friend's belongings, which the church took good care of.

I have many other stories but I felt this one was enough to start with.

Phyllis Sheffield