Tomorrow is Good Friday. In the true spirit of the season, yet another story of true human kindness is about to play out in Michigan’s Great Southwest.
Annika Alpers is General Manager of the Bob Evans Restaurant on Pipestone Road at I-94 in Benton Harbor. Annika tells me that one of regular customers, who wishes to remain anonymous, called her offering a very gracious donation around the end of last week.
The man indicated that he wanted to donate food from the Bob Evans restaurant “to people in the community who are doing good things during these tough times.” He then offered to donate $1,100 for the restaurant team to use in whatever way they would like to feed people in the local community.
After speaking a bit more with the man and his wife, everybody settled on helping out some of the front line workers at Spectrum Health Lakeland. Annika says, “I know there are lots of donations that go there, but together, we thought about some of those on the inside support staff, who may not always get thought of.”
Annika reached out to a friend who works at the hospital and together they crafted a plan over the past several days which will culminate in a great gesture tomorrow, Good Friday.
Tomorrow, Friday, April 10th, just ahead of the noon hour, Annika’s Bob Evans team will deliver 170 Easter Dinner meals to three support teams at Spectrum Health Lakeland.
She says, “While we cannot feed everyone, I know that the departments which we have selected will enjoy their Easter meal while on duty over the weekend.” She adds, “All of the meals will be prepared and packaged cold and individually. That way when the workers have time they can heat up their meal and enjoy it on their own schedule. It’s a hectic time and we are trying to make it very easy for them to eat and go.”
The Spectrum Health Lakeland Departments that will get the special donated Easter Dinners include:
- Environmental Services, who are responsible for cleaning all of the rooms…
- Transport, who move people from point to point in hospital beds or wheelchairs…
- Radiology…
Annika says, “The couple who donated this money had just one thing in mind, and it was not notoriety. They felt that perhaps their story might make others in the community stop and think, and in turn also offer up something to help others. They felt, if all of us who have the means to help monetarily or otherwise, in this trying time we are living through, we could put smiles on faces that would otherwise have none.” How very true indeed.
The Benton Harbor Bob Evans Restaurants is located at 2254 Pipestone Road, just off of I-94. Like many other restaurants in the region, they are open for carry out options only during the Governor’s shelter-in-place order.
