Summer in Tennessee is no joke. With temperatures nearing 100 in mid-June and humidity so thick you feel like you could swim in it, staying hydrated is especially important. Most people find themselves grabbing a bottle of water before they leave the house and cranking up the air conditioning.
But imagine if the only place you could get some air conditioning was the library? And if you had no sink to get a glass of water from? For the thousands of homeless men, women, and children in Nashville, this is a reality.
Once the temperatures peak, we launch our “Hot Patrol.” We put cold, bottled water in our van and drive around the city, giving it to the homeless to make sure they are safe and hydrated. We also offer them a ride back to the Mission so they don’t have to walk across town to get to us in the heat.
But in order to do this, we need water. And lots of it. Even to serve the homeless on a normal day we need water. And this year, water donations were lower than usual. We became DESPERATE.
Billy, senior director of operations for the Mission, called Jeanette, who works in the receiving department at Sam’s Club in Hendersonville to see if they could help. Jeanette’s worked at Sam’s for over 30 years and is always willing to help. When she got the call, she sprung into action.
Jeanette called the Assistant Market Manager, Sondi. Sondi then made a few phone calls and soon enough, all six area Sam’s Clubs offered to each donate a pallet of water—six pallets in total. Water came from Murfreesboro, Antioch, Bellevue, Clarksville, Hendersonville, and Cool Springs. Tammy, the forklift operator, told us she said a prayer over the water before Billy came to pick it up.
“We love to represent Sam’s Club in a positive way in our community,” Jeanette shared. “And we like to help Nashville Rescue Mission any time we can.”
Thank you Sam’s Club, Jeanette, Sondi, and Tammy! Thanks to the generosity of the employees and Sam’s Clubs in the Nashville area, we are able to continue to hydrate the homeless this summer.