Helping a Woman in COVID Financial Crisis

When a wind storm blew down a huge tree in her yard, Pansy Steele didn’t know what to do. 

“I just stood in the yard and just started praising God,” said Sandy, “because it was so close to my home. So, I was just being so thankful that I wasn’t hurt, that no one was hurt, because the tree was very tall.”

If the storm happened just a few months sooner, Pansy would have called someone to get rid of the tree. But that wasn’t an option, because of the Corona virus.  

“It wasn’t a good time financially with the COVID,” said Sandy. “I had just been furloughed from my job, and I thought, I don’t even have a clue who to call to take care of something like that.”

Officer Brad Chambers was in the area when he met Pansy in her front yard. 

“I immediately notified public works and landscaping services for the city,” recalled Officer Chambers, “and they said they were gonna come out here as soon as possible to clear up the public roadway. Because there was no way of clearing out this massive tree that was in Pansy’s front yard. Being here by herself, furloughed because of the COVID-19, what other option does she have but to go into a pretty big financial hole to fix something like this.”

The city couldn’t do that much work on private property, so Officer Chambers made a few phone calls and got in touch with Operation Blessing.

“I wanted to hug all you guys when you came to my door,” said Pansy. “I just wanted to hug you so tight and thank you, but I tried to stay apart.”

Operation Blessing staff and volunteers used heavy equipment and chainsaws to cut the tree into manageable pieces. Then they threw it all into a dump truck and hauled it away.

“This is definitely having a genuine impact on Pansy, and the rest of this neighborhood, and ultimately the rest of this city,” said Officer Chambers. “I definitely appreciate Operation Blessing donors because they made all this possible.”

“It was just amazing how Operation Blessing came together and did this for me,” said Pansy. “I want to thank everybody who donates, so that these guys can come out and do things like this for our community.”