HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — Some organizations that serve the community carefully plan how each donated dollar is spent, but during extreme weather months, a utility bill can quickly blow the budget. That’s what happened this month for Rose of Sharon Soup Kitchen.
We’re a safe haven for the homeless, and we need our air conditioning units to run. We have four of them,” Executive Director Theresa Wilson Todd said.
Wilson Todd said the soup kitchen serves 300 meals daily. They rely on 19 refrigerators and freezers to keep that food fresh.
“We serve on real China, real plates, so we’re constantly washing dishes,” she said.
Plus, a partnership with Shower-Up that allows visitors to clean themselves and their clothes.
“They give over 300 showers a week here,” she said.
When she received the bill for July, between water, air conditioning and power, it was just too high.
“It was almost $2,000. I was like, ‘We’re in the middle of summer, monetary donations are very low.’ I just reached out to the community,” Wilson Todd said.
She posted on Facebook explaining her situation. Within hours, her prayer was answered by real estate agent Teré Calloway. He paid the bill in full.
“I’m in a position that I can help like that, and it’s an honor for me,” Calloway said.
Calloway said when he first moved to Huntsville, he didn’t have much. He was struggling. Now that he’s established as a realtor and on the other side of the struggle, he wants to help others.
“I was just blown away,” Wilson Todd said. “What a heart, what a heart that man has.”
His gesture started a train of giving to Rose of Sharon Soup Kitchen. Hundreds of shares and comments led to donations that can help the soup kitchen all summer.
“People realize I’m going to have another utility bill in three weeks,” she said. “I encourage anyone to come down, meet us, come and have a tour. See what we actually do here, and see where your money is going.”
That’s exactly what Calloway did. He brought his family too.
“It’s something that my dad instilled in me when I was young, up in Seattle,” Calloway explained. “I grew up in an area that didn’t have a lot. He bought 100 pairs of brand-new shoes and gave them out to everyone in the community. That’s something that I’ve seen from a young age, and that’s something that I want my family to be a part of as well, so we can all have a hand in helping out the community.”
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