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



 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Half-a-race!

The HFP Drag-Racing Fund-Raiser had the potential of being extremely successful, and could have raised several thousand dollars. Let's just say it was partly successful. For background purposes I'll explain that I was racing a 1963 supercharged Studebaker Lark that has a reputation of being one of the fastest stock Studebakers in drag racing today. The engine was built by one of the finest Studebaker engine mechanics in the country, and the car many times has achieved quarter-mile runs in less than 14 seconds! We promised to make at least ten passes in the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drags at Mid-Michigan Motorplex in Stanton, Michigan, this past weekend, and we asked for pledges ONLY ON THOSE RUNS REACHED IN LESS THAN 14 SECONDS. On Friday, here's how we fared: Run #1 13.936 @ 101.24 mph Run #2 14.027 @ 101.30 mph Run #3 14.091 @ 100.88 mph Run #4 13.805 @ 102.84 mph Run #5 14.058 @ 101.26 mph By the 5th run we discovered that
Read more

Gregory John McCormick: 1964-2008

Itchy is dead. The lifeless body of this talented rock musician, whose band Shock Therapy was a popular group especially in Europe, was found in a field in Detroit last Wednesday, November 5. The Wayne County Coroner's office informed father Glenn McCormick that the body of his son Gregory, better known to all of us as Itchy, bore no signs of trauma. Glenn said that Itchy, who had been living at his father's dental lab in Detroit, had been drinking to excess for some time. While the toxicology report has not been released yet, the general consensus seems to be that he drank himself to death. Our agency, while still named INNOCENT, first got involved with Itchy in 2005. The Detroit native, who called Germany his home, got involved in some unfortunate activity that placed him in the Michigan State prison system on a charge of arson of a dwelling. It was really just a bonfire in an alley, but an alleged parole violation placed him in prison for 1-20 years. I personally sat w
Read more

Three lives, connected by a divine thread

My kids say it should be a book! The Doug, Pat and Mark story is a doozie!   About 25 years ago, while fighting to free Maurice Carter from prison, I read a newspaper column written by Pat Shellenbarger of the Grand Rapids Press on the topic of eyewitness identification. I contacted Pat re that story. That led to a friendship between Doug and Pat that continues to this day.   In subsequent months, Pat would go on to assist me in an investigation into the Maurice Carter case that eventually led to solving the crime.  That particular episode became a chapter in my book about the Carter case, SWEET FREEDOM, published in 2006.   Fast forward to 2009, A New York businessman claims wrongful conviction, and while serving time in a Michigan prison is handed a copy of my book. Mark Hartman, who was also convicted in Berrien County, was amazed at the similarity of these two stories and tried to reach out to me. His letters bounced.   Persisting in his efforts to contact the author, Mark
Read more