Lee Trawick
reporter2@riverbendnews.org
Never judge a person by their possessions, they may have nothing,
because they gave everything, because they know the true meaning of love.
Barbara Plummer was visiting her aunt at the Lafayette Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (LNRC) in Mayo. While there, she got involved with playing games and crafts when she overheard a resident saying she was cold. Little did she know who Plummer was; Plummer is a member of the Raymond Cromartie Jr. group under Chapter 128 of the Order of the Eastern Star Prince Hall Affiliate (RaymondCromartie#128OESPHA) out of Perry, Fla., where she resides.
The chapter comprises 17 local women, and the group is just two years old. However, their reasoning is as old as time; they are called to serve. Plummer is not only a member; she was voted as the Worthy Matron of the group by her peers. Therefore, after hearing a resident was cold, she did not announce what she was going to do. Plummer did not go on social media looking for validation or praise, she simply left and went to the store to initially buy a blanket for the resident she did not know, only overheard. Then, she was compelled to notify her group of angel warriors. When she made the call, they answered with an absolute in their voice, "Yes, it is what we are called to do." Plummer and her group bought 35 blankets for the residents, but they did not stop there; the group bought backpacks and filled each of them with hand sanitizer, lotion, puzzle books, and pens, and some even got a snack in their bag and returned to LNRC on Saturday, July 26, where she met with Teresa Watley of LNRC to pass out the gifts to the residents.
While these ladies see themselves as simple, humble servants only doing their part in a world and time that needs angels now more than ever, to the residents of LNRC, they are angels of goodness, comfort and love. While they accept joy and smiles from those they encounter, they receive no funding. The funds come out of their chapter, which they raise, then when those funds run out, they offer up their own money.
Where do their love and compassion come from? To them, it's an easy explanation; their Lord and personal Savior set the standard by offering up himself at Calvary. Therefore, they are called to spread the love so strong He gave himself for the world. They do that through compassion; they do it with a smile, with only the hopes that no matter one's age or circumstances, one may also feel the love they feel from their Savior, regardless of how brief or small. They have a message to spread and a calling to serve; they will always answer the call and go where they are needed.