What a way to start the day! What a way to start the week!

I’m not sure exactly when I rented Box 687 in the United States Post Office of Grand Haven, Michigan…but it was early in our 23-year history. Those were the days before we communicated with prisoners via email, so the US Mail was our main method of conveying messages. 

What I do recall, though, is that the daily visit to that post office box was a part of my prayer life. HFP was a one-man show back then. Each day, when I dropped off my packet of letters to prisoners and to those persons who supported the work of HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS, I said a prayer over the outgoing mail. Then I would take a couple steps over to the PO box, and pray that something good (preferably financial contributions) would be in the stack of incoming mail that day. 

Those memories are all coming back to me this week. HFP is no longer a one-man show, and I am no longer the one who makes the post office visits each morning. But, our Office Manager Suzie has caught the fever! Now she looks forward to seeing if there are any surprises in the mailbox. And, praise God, there were! 

First, there was a check from Eddy, who resides in one of Michigan’s rather unpleasant prisons, located in Munising. He had alerted us ahead of time, after Sarah and I had assisted him in preparing an application for commutation of his sentence: “You guys are miracle workers in my eyes. I do appreciate everything all of you have done for me. As soon as these people here post my pay I will be sending HFP a few bucks. I know it will not be enough for all the work all of you have done for me. I just wish there was more I could for all of you.” 

Why the excitement over his check, received today, in the amount of $25.00? Eddie is in his 70s, has been in prison over 50 years, and probably earns between 15 and 50 cents an hour in his prison job! What a gift! 

BUT, that wasn’t the only check in the mail! The second, also issued by the State of Michigan, came from the Prisoner Benefit Fund of the Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility in Ionia. 

Why the excitement over this check? Well, this is the prison where Calvin University has its CPI program, enabling incarcerated men to get legitimate college degrees. HFP’s CEO Mark Hartman is a graduate of that program, and it’s no secret that some key administrative personnel have resisted efforts to approve any financial grants to HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS. Prayers were answered. We received a $1,000 check in support of our work!

I’ve said it time and again: There’s no greater honor for the HFP team than to receive financial support from the people we serve behind bars! 

“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”
- Kahlil Gibran



 

 

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