While many of us are able to remain indoors and safe during these unprecedented times, there are still countless essential workers who keep our world running while we are away.
Garbage collectors must still go out every day to collect people’s trash and keep our neighbourhoods clean. However, for one man, his job was critical for more than one reason.
Jake Bland of Louisville, Kentucky, had become very familiar with the neighbourhoods he served, including the residents.
Because he was experienced in his job, he noticed the trash missing from one household and knew it was the home of an elderly lady.
Instead of ignoring this seemingly insignificant detail during his rounds, Jake, the company operations manager for Hometown Hauling, decided to check in on her.
WDRB Jake and his crew discovered that the 90-year-old woman had almost no food in the house and was unable to get out to buy more.
“She just didn’t have nothing to eat,” worker Bernice Arthur told WDRB News. “And that’s why she had no trash to put out there.”
After speaking with the elderly lady, they went shopping for necessities for her and hand-delivered them to her, refusing to accept payment.
WDRB reimburses Hometown Hauling for an elderly woman’s groceries.
Bernice told WDRB, “She has no family, nobody,” Bernice told WDRB. “I said, ‘You do have a family now.’”
Thankfully, Jake and his team arrived just in time, as the lady felt she had no one to turn to for assistance.
‘Check on them…let them know’
Bland and Arthur were crucial in potentially saving the woman’s life. They now hope that their story will serve as a reminder to check on loved ones in any way they can.
Bernice continued, “Had we not reached out to her — she wasn’t reaching out to anyone,” Bernice added. “It taught me, regardless, check on them. Put something on their porch. Let them know.”