We recently held a night-time function at our facility in Easton and one of our volunteers, Ken Izyk, manned the front entrance to help with parking. I went out to thank Ken and he pointed to a car with a flat tire about 50 feet from our driveway. “It looks like he could use some help.”

John from Rhode Island was the driver… 85-years old and a true gentleman in every sense of the word. John was flustered and had no cell phone so we invited him into My Brother’s Keeper to call home and AAA.

“Where are you, John?” his wife asked frantically when she heard his voice. “I’m in East Greenwich,” was his answer.

It became crystal clear that John was totally disoriented: he didn’t even know he was in Massachusetts!

He’d gone out for lunch and seven hours later, he broke down 50 miles away right in front of our building during a rare evening event.  What are the chances?

At My Brother’s Keeper, we often say “God writes straight with crooked lines.” God was clearly watching over John that night and brought him to just the right place at just the right time.

I was so touched watching our staff and volunteers take turns keeping John company until his family arrived: they were models of compassion and hospitality, witnessing that you don’t have to carry furniture or food to be your brother’s keeper.

Our mission “To bring the Love and Hope of Jesus Christ to those we serve” is so much deeper and, as a community, it calls us to service in so many different ways.