Sometimes, all it takes is a little creative problem solving to kill two birds with one stone.
This week, staff at Help End Abuse for Life (HEAL) witnessed a solution to a problem that benefited The Nest and turned lemons into lemonade.
Alto’s new Chisum Travel Convenience Store in Alto, which opened its doors last month, received a large shipment of chicken in error from its food vendor.
“They said we couldn’t send it back,” said Jana Townsend, manager of Chisum 23. “We couldn’t use it. So they asked if there is any place we could donate it to. I immediately thought of The Nest. I called the shelter and asked if they wanted it,” Townsend said.
Shelter Supervisor June Shaughnessy was thrilled to take the call. “Our shelter has been bursting at the seams for months now so this offer meant a lot to us,” said Shaughnessy. Later that day, Townsend dropped off the entire shipment at The Nest.
Townsend was already familiar with the Nest from her days as manager of TR’s Market. When the store was still operating, it sold custom-made spices and sauces created and provided by the late Perry Champion, a long-time supporter of the shelter and a winner of HEAL’s 2013 Heroes with Heart awards. Champion eventually introduced Townsend to HEAL Executive Director Coleen Widell.
Townsend became determined to help and through TR’s Market and they often made donations to the shelter. “It’s the organization I think of first for donations,” Townsend said. “Perry introduced me to the Nest, what it was all about, and all the good things they did, and I have been a supporter ever since.”
Townsend’s support of HEAL comes from her appreciation of the work that the shelter does, her love for the women and children who are recovering from lives of violence and her embrace of the organization’s mission to end violence in Lincoln County.
Long-term supporters like Townsend help HEAL achieve its mission by contributing to the nuts-and-bolts of the daily operations of a 42-bed shelter. It truly does “take a village.”
Pictured is Jana Townsend of Chisum 23.
