Welcome! Volunteers are a core value at the Father Fred Foundation.

In donations, it’s personal

Ike and Mary Lou

There are days when working the door where donors drop off clothing and household goods at the Father Fred Foundation can be like manning the drive-through at a fast food restaurant.

One after another, vehicles come by with every manner of donation. Most end up being given away to clients, with some saved to be sold in one of two annual garage sales to raise money for food, utility shutoffs and other much-needed assistance for people who need it.

Still, it can be a very personal process, as many Father Fred volunteers recognize. Take Ike Hiatt, for example. A long-time volunteer, she says, “Like anything else, after a while, donations become alive.”

They tell stories, she says, noting that she tries to be sensitive to the circumstances behind donations – especially when it becomes evident that a death is the reason for closets and drawers being cleaned out.

“Here comes the car and it’s a single person in it and they’re elderly, and they want to tell you the story about the clothes,” Ike says. “The clothes are nice, they’re all clean, they’re all folded and eventually you can kind of figure out that they lost their spouse.”

Sometimes the man or woman will mention that they’ve lost their wife or husband. Other times, they don’t, but Ike says if it’s clear they are sad, or reluctant to part with the clothing, she might ask.

Because it can be difficult for them, she tries to ease their grief.

“Sometimes they don’t want to let go of the stuff, so I always try to give them a lot of time,” she says. “I have asked people if they know what we’ll do with their donations, and I ask if they would like to go see, and I show them where it will go.

“Most are grateful because they’re not in a hurry to leave us. It’s sort of a closure for them so I try to make it nice. I ask them if they need a hug and I try to end it so they know we are very grateful.”

Ike

Ike ready for donations