Large crowd views Help Tuck Them In doc. as group thanks public for their support
HELP TUCK THEM IN LEADERS HAVE LEARNED OVER THE LAST THREE YEARS that there is a price to pay for personal reward and the warm feelings that come with doing something special to help children in need.
The currency is tears and empathy that sometimes is too much to overcome.
“A lot of us would like to tell the stories of our deliveries … I can’t,” said project director Joe Buyck, who got choked up just reciting those words at Thursday’s Help Tuck Them In event that featured the premiere of a documentary that was put together. “It’s tough.”
Alf managed to stay a bit more composed Thursday — enough to share a touching story about one of the group’s more difficult deliveries.
“The tough deliveries … we get in the truck after and it’s quiet because of what we just saw,” Alf said.
That impactful drop came in Lyon County, where the group was set to deliver four beds. Outside of the home, Alf, said, they came across an infant sitting outside.
“I kept him out of the way so the guys could bring the beds in; when I reached down to brush his little blonde head, there were stitches in the top of his head,” Alf remembers. “I lost it when the child crawled over and started sucking on the part of a grill that hooks up to a propane tank!”
The scene pulled the hearts of Alf and the others hard enough where they had to regroup for about an hour after the delivery. And Alf said she fought for the child, first by going to a social worker, then to Child Protective Services. The ending was a good one, as a few days later, CPS was able to take custody of the young one.
“That took the weight off my shoulders,” Alf said. “There is a lot of both heartache and joy in doing this.”
But while deliveries have opened the eyes of group members to the sad reality that some unfortunate children face, there are also good memories they take away from homes where excited children are peering out a window, waiting for a bed delivery as if they’re expecting Santa’s sleigh to pull up.
“Little kids will just thank you and smile!” said Buyck. “Parents crying as we’re leaving. There was one little boy that just broke my heart; he comes up to me and wrapped his arms around my leg and goes, ‘Can I go home with you?’ This is the stuff we see a lot of. We have a lot of joyful ones.”
The documentary, which was produced and directed by Southwest Minnesota State University alumni Tahj’ee Smith, detailed the bed-making system, a process that is powered by both tools and a volunteer’s touch, many volunteers for that matter. It also included interviews by Alf, Buyck and the two other members of the team, George Erbes and craftsman Greg Holland. Also included were Lions members and Troy Wehling of Slayton Building Materials, which has supplied lumber from the beginning three years ago.
Among the speakers lsat Thursday was Roger Trulock, who shared his experience of being one of the Help Tuck Them In volunteers. He recently joined the fraternity of people that has been caught up in a jet stream of emotions. Like Buyck and the other bed brethren, he has been affected by some of the things he has seen.
“I was totally unaware of what this project meant until the first time I went with,” he said. “The first delivery we made was to a little guy … we brought the bed out of the trailer, and he got ahold of it and wanted to go — I had to pry his hand off it as we went to the doorway. That means a lot. If anyone else wants to have a really good feeling inside, do what I did.”
Also Thursday night, the Tracy Eagles Club presented a $5,000 donation to Help Tuck Them In.
“We strongly believe in what you guys are doing, love your mission,” Eagles Gambling Manager Jeremy Trulock said. “It’s such an awesome thing. We’re so happy to be able to support you guys as much as well can, because like the sign says, every child deserves a bed.”
Alf added that it’s not just beds that are delivered. Everything that a child needs for a good night’s sleep is provided as well — a mattress and mattress protector, sheets, a comforter, a pillow, a set of pajamas, reading books, stuffed animals, and a toothbrush and toothpaste.
