You Guys Make Me So Happy

Most days Inwood Community Center is a place where seniors come to mingle and children come to play. On Oct. 29 it quickly morphed into a much-needed place of refuge. Nine people in total were able to find sanctuary and comfort in the Red Cross supported shelter. One woman, 83-year-old Marguerte Hill, was there for three days due to a power outage.

Mrs. Hill, known to the community as “Mother Hill,” was there supporting her friends as they gathered clothing from the center. A fixture in the neighborhood, Mother Hill said the church that her late husband established 69 years ago had lost power and was forced to cancel most of its anniversary plans scheduled for this week.

Despite her troubles, Mother Hill stayed positive, saying the kosher food delivered by the Red Cross to the Community Center was wonderful and greatly appreciated by the neighborhood it was then delivered to, and that the Red Cross cots and blankets made her stay there comfortable.

Mrs. Hill’s infectious laughter and amazing attitude lit up everyone around her. Upon exiting with cane in hand Mother Hill exclaimed, “You guys make me so happy I could just run!”

In the midst of one of the biggest operations the American Red Cross has ever put on, to hear just one voice stand up and say we made a difference makes the days without sleep and time away from loved ones worth it.