On Monday night I had the privilege of working the phones at the Chapter’s Disaster Relief Fund telethon at KSDK. Of the many, many people I had the honor to talk to and collect donations from one immediately struck me as a little different.
It wasn’t uncommon for me to collect $10, $20 or even $50 donations from our neighbors all over Missouri and Illinois. But I have to say, every time I wrote a number bigger than $100 it took my breath away and I didn’t quite know what to say to the person on the other side of the phone! You have to know, taking away my words is a BIG deal. I write for a living.
I took one of those donations and immediately my words got all jumbled up. Upon me sounding like a blundering idiot, the woman on the phone said “I should tell you, this isn’t from me. It’s from my grandchildren.” She quickly explained that her grandkids ranging from age 10 down to 18 months decided they didn’t need the money in their Easter eggs. It became more important for them to give their newly found funds to kids and families affected by Friday’s tornadoes.
It was at that point that I really lost my words and couldn’t say much more than “Oh, wow!” over and over again. Probably feeling that she should interrupt my inarticulate mess she told me to “Just go on and double it!” I probably tried using sign language over the phone at this point because my words were truly gone now. I mustered up few hundred thank you’s and wished her a good night. Upon hanging up, I kept my phone off the hook so I could tell everyone around me just what had happened.
Now I’m not a crier by any means. However, it would be a lie if I didn’t say my eyes were a little extra-hydrated after that phone call. Thank you to everyone who has donated. Every little bit adds up and will help us take care of a lot of people. You’re all amazing.
Molly
Molly McHugh is a volunteer for the American Red Cross St. Louis Area Chapter.