When Maupin Funeral Home Manager Derek Ebersole walked into his office Friday morning, he found that morning's edition of the Fulton Sun on his desk that included an article about the Fulton Soup Kitchen - and its urgent need for help paying for repairs to its freezer - marked with a highlighter.
Office manager Lori Dillon said the funeral home should do something for the organization that provides a hot dinner to area individuals and families in need four days a week at the John C. Harris Community Center.
"We all sat around and talked about it, and we just felt like it was a good program, and we need to give back to the community," Ebersole said. "We just want to help."
A few hours later, Maupin Funeral Home had made arrangements not just to make a donation toward the estimated $2,000 needed to repair the soup kitchen's broken freezer, but to purchase a brand-new commercial freezer.
Ebersole made the arrangements to purchase the new freezer, which should arrive next week, with Teel Mechanical Service - which sold him the freezer at cost and agreed to take care of the installation for free.
"We're glad to be able to help the community when we can," Richard Teel said of his company's role. "It's a good group over there, and we're happy to be a part of it."