Some people look down on garbage men and women. But this story shows why they deserve as much respect as anyone else.
Jake Bland had been working as a garbage man for many years in Louisville, Kentucky. He feels a strong sense of community with the streets that he serves. One day, he would turn into a hero.
At first, Bland noticed that one particular house hadn’t taken the trash out for a few days. He was a little worried, as the coronavirus pandemic had reached the city. However, Bland didn’t want to intrude on the homeowner’s privacy, so he carried on with his job. But as the days went by, he noticed that this particular house still hadn’t taken any trash out. He had seen the resident of the home, an old woman. After two weeks, Bland decided that he couldn’t just ignore the issue. He felt that there was no harm in checking in on the resident.
So he called his head office and asked if anyone could call the old lady up and ensure that she was fine. When a company representative called, they were relieved to hear that the old lady, who was in her 90s, answered the phone. They asked why she hadn’t taken out the trash in so long. The old lady explained that she hadn’t taken out the trash because she had very little food in the home. She was too scared to leave the home because of coronavirus. She had been skipping meals to make what food she did have last.
The company representative, Denise Arthur, was incredibly upset to hear this news. So she organized some of the company employees to go grocery shopping for her.
The old lady was amazed when she opened the door one day to find bags of groceries waiting for her. A note said that it was all courtesy of the garbage collection company, Hometown Hauling Company. And this kindness is all thanks to Bland being a good community member and looking out for the people that he works for. Soon, people started praising Bland, Arthur and Hometown Hauling for helping the lady in a bad situation.
The company just said that they hope that this story will inspire others to check in on their community members. What’s more important than making money is helping each other out. What Hometown Hauling has done makes no sense from a financial point of view. But from a human point of view, it makes perfect sense. America as a society needs to do all that it can to ensure that as many people as possible are safe and secure for as long as the pandemic rages on.
