What Christmas is All About...

Now, this, to me, is what the true Christmas spirit is all about.
The following note comes from CB&T's South Columbus Branch. What a great story!!

We all may know Mr. Collins, the homeless man who sometimes visits a few of the branches and sleeps on the 13th St bridge. He isn't met sometimes with such warmth by some people who don't know him, but I would like to take the opportunity to lift up my team at South Columbus. He has come in the branch every morning for the last few mornings. (He visits this branch a lot and every time, my team treats him with the utmost respect and kindness.) This morning when he came in, my tellers noticed he was shaking due to the cold and rain but he left and has been sitting in the parking lot of a restaurant next door. One of my tellers went out in the rain to ask Mr. Collins if it would be ok if we got him a room to stay in for the day to get out of the weather and he accepted. We tried to take him to two different hotels to stay nearby, but once they saw it was Mr. Collins, they turned him away and said No! Finally my teller Jake, who has truly been a blessing and witness to Mr. Collins through all of this, found a place that would let Mr. Collins stay there for the night. Due to the generous and loving spirit of my team, they took it upon themselves to donate money to pay for Mr. Collins a room and some dry clothing. When I went to get him clothes, I was telling the story of what was going on to the cashier and she even teared up and gave me a discount on his clothes. With the money I saved there, I went to Wal-Mart to look for a "jacket with a hood" because Mr. Collins asked if we could find him one. I truly believe what happened next was God's hand. As I looked for a jacket with a hood, all of them were $50 and up. In the middle of the floor on a rounder were big fluffy down jackets on sale for $7!! I was able to get Mr. Collins a jacket, gloves, and hat with the money saved at the other store.

Mr. Collins was able to shower and sleep in a warm bed last night and get a good nights rest. He came in just a little bit ago looking like a brand new man! He was clean and wearing his new clothes! I can't tell you the bright smiles on all of our faces this morning seeing him. We have contacted an agency to help him get off the street but so far he doesn't want the help. He is staying another night in his hotel room, so my prayer is maybe the Lord will speak to him through this experience and maybe he will reach out for help this time.

I cannot express enough how thankful I am to know each team member here at the South Columbus Branch and makes my heart so glad to work along side these wonderful people. It is also a blessing to know Mr. Frank Collins as well. We all go through struggles, each of us not knowing what the other is going through, but to put that aside and give to someone less fortunate than ourselves is really speaking God's blessings. I am so very proud of my team and I am so thankful for the generous and giving spirit here at South Columbus. It is truly amazing to witness this act of kindness first hand. This is truly what it means to give selflessly and I could not be more proud of each and every team member. Thank you all.