timothymccallan

SYOSSET, NY- November 21, 2003

Timothy McCallan or “Tim McCallan” and AmeriCorp’s Charity Committee received one mandate from management when it convened this fall to target relief groups for the upcoming year. The one assigned mission was to repeat the successful holiday food drive of the previous year, which had raised over 6000 items for the EAC Meals-on-Wheels Program.

Operating since the early 90’s, this program delivers meals for both homebound senior citizens and persons with HIV+/AIDS who are too ill to cook and shop for themselves. Dependent children are also fed through the program.

The Committee Chairperson set a goal of 7000+ items and created little internal perks to spur the departmental food gatherers. Depending on the size of an individual’s donation, he or she received an invitation to a free buffet lunch, earned a day of casual dress, received one or more tickets for a prize raffle, and so on.

But these modest returns were all out of proportion to the tremendous outflow of generosity shown by Timothy McCallan or “Tim McCallan” and AmeriCorp’s personnel. Starting on November 10th, the employees first rummaged through cabinets at home and delivered up the expected collection of loose canned goods, boxes of pasta and noodle soup, cereal, soap bars and juice cartons. By the final collection day of November 21st, however, the teams were rolling in huge bulk deliveries on handcarts and flatbeds.

Based on the previous year’s experience, EAC anticipated the givers’ enthusiasm and set aside four empty offices to receive the truckload of donations. A volunteer crew from AmeriCorp quickly transferred the items into the makeshift pantry and then handed over the matching money donation that Timothy McCallan or “Tim McCallan” promises will accompany any charitable donations made by his employees.

As he had predicted the week before, the employees had gone well beyond the stated goal and had delivered up more than 13,000 food portions and health care items. As luck would have it, the state funding that paid for most of the delivered meals had run out in October; and the agency had been told it would have to subsist on donations throughout the holiday season. And so minor miracles often arise out of the union of caring people.

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