Photo by Deanna Dunaway – development assistant
The Sacred Heart Home is located upon 44 acres of land, which is often a blessing and a burden. Having this much land is wonderful for our Residents and Sisters to experience the beauty of nature, but presents us a constant challenge to maintain. We are constantly mowing the grass, trimming the trees and bushes, and maintain safety on the property. All without allocating much needed resources away from our Resident care. The Sisters rely totally upon donations and volunteerism to keep the grounds looking ship shape and beautiful. So many volunteers give freely of their time and resources to plant flowers, shrubs, trim trees, and generally do all the upkeep on the grounds. We have one part-time, seasonal employee who helps by mowing the grass throughout the year. They say in the peak of grass growing season when he gets done mowing all the property, it rains and he is soon back mowing the grass again.
Recently the Sisters were presented with a problem when our old mower was beyond repair and needed replacement. Immediately the Sisters knew what to do, call on an old friend for help.Sr. Margaret went to see Mr. Bob O’Brien, owner of Century Equipment. Bob has been a lifelong supporter of the Little Sisters and he and his son Mark were glad to help out the Sisters in their time of need.
Bob also shared an interesting story with Sr. Margaret when she came to see him. It seems Bob has known the Little Sisters since they were located on Starr Avenue, many years ago. He recalled how one day a man was mowing the grass at the old Sacred Heart Home on Starr Ave. with a manual push mower and someone came by and said “you should go see the O’Briens and get a motorized mower”. The Sisters followed that advice and came to see Bob, who then donated the first motorized mower to them back in 1954. Since that time the Little Sisters have relied on Bob and his family, over these many years, for his support and advice.
The Sisters are so grateful to Mr. Bob O’Brien and his family for their dedicated giving over these many years and pray daily for benefactors such as this who help the Sisters support their Mission of Caring for the Needy Elderly. If you or someone you know would like to help the Little Sisters with a donation of time, talent or treasure, please contact us as 419-698-4331.
