Surprising Donation

When I worked at Deseret Industries (DI) in Provo, it was the second largest DI in existence. We received all kinds of donations. One time we were given thousands of pairs of new shoes in all sizes. Other times we would get furniture from hotels that were remodeling. Students who were leaving Brigham Young University at the end of the semester would donate all kinds of wonderful things. We received enough donations of fabric that we had a room where we kept the larger pieces for use in the Homecraft Department. It was staggering how many quilt tops were donated. We would add backs and batting and send them out to be made up so the quilts could be given out through the Bishops Storehouse.

We had large donation boxes outside the building for use when the store was closed. These boxes were probably seven feet tall, they had a door so employees could go inside to empty them. Each box had one or two 'windows' with a swinging door that only opened in. You could push something into the box, but nothing could be pushed back out of that swinging door.

One morning on my way to work I stopped at one of the boxes and dropped something in. I was shocked (and even jumped back) to see something moving inside. Something pretty big. In fact, I was pretty sure it was a person. When the box was opened they did indeed find a man in there. He was a homeless guy who had climbed in to sleep, not realizing he would not be able to get out.

One of our stranger donations.