of Angels and Miracles

The United Way is trying to fill the need of back to school by collecting supplies, our list is well over 400. We’ve been fortunate this year in that Wal-Mart came on as a sponsor. But we didn’t get the donations we needed so I had budgeted about $1500 of United Way dollars to spend. I generated a ‘must have’ list and told Wal-Mart of my budget and they were going to pull it all together for me as the parents are coming next week to pick up the backpacks.

I had faxed Wal-Mart our list Thursday afternoon but the only person who knew what to do with it left at 2:30 pm. So no one worked on the order over night.

I showed up at 8 am Friday expecting to pick up the order and it wasn’t there. This was suppose to be a day off for the office. Wal-Mart said to come back at 2, which was fine. The crew that showed up to help unload the car then went about their business.

I stayed in the office and got some stuff done and put a few fires out.

I went back to Wal-Mart at 2 to get all the stuff. But their computer wouldn't allow the transactions to proceed as they’d broken it down into 3 transactions. It needed to be broken down further.

So I had things I had to do between 3 and 6 so I said I'd be back at 6. Looking at the stack of stuff I knew it would take a few trips in my car and I wasn’t feeling up to that kind of an effort, so I called Thrifty Rent a Car and they let me ‘borrow' a cargo van.

So at 5:30 I pick up the van and I return to Wal-Mart for the 3rd time at 6 and we start ringing through stuff again, and then the credit card maxes out. I'm starting to realize Wal-Mart didn't stick to the budget. I’d verified Friday morning I had $1500 space on the card.

So I drive back to the office to get the debit card for our accounts. It has a $1 000 limit on it.

I get back up to Wal-Mart (if you’re counting this is the 4th time) and the debit card keeps saying 'over limit' so I decide the best plan is to go back to the office get a cheque and sign a cheque over to me and then pay out of my account. Not exactly best practice but not much in alternatives. There was half of the order rung through and paid for and the other half not and they weren’t letting it out of their sight unpaid for, and I don’t blame them.

I double check with Suzanne on my way back to the office, calling her at home, and she agrees that the debit card should have had a $1000 limit on it. I get to the office and since we’re redoing the signing authorities on the bank I knew exactly where the information was. I grab the forms and all of a sudden the debit card has a 0 (zero) limit. Which is totally stupid because when we buy stamps etc, we use the debit card.

I was ready to have a discussion on switching banks, now I’m flat out prepared to start the process.

Naturally I didn't have my debit card with me, (can't spend $ if I don't have the card and I’m trying to keep to a budget), so I get Chrissy to cab to the office as I'm still at Wal-Mart (at this point, because I called her to let her know why I couldn’t take her to Kendo and she offered to come and help – she knows by my voice how tired and frustrated I am and steps up – I love my kid (son is working)) and it would be faster the cab that is. Plus driving my free cargo van lots makes me feel guilty.

So I head back to the office for the 3rd time and wait for Chrissy, hit the bank and head up to Wal-Mart again (5th time) and it all gets paid for and Chrissy and 3 Wal-Mart staff load the van up. Thank goodness for the van!!!

Well it’s only unloaded into the front of the building, I’ll be dragging Chrissy and her brother back to get it up the stairs and into the office sometime today (Saturday)

Chrissy essentially unloads the van, I’m sort of helping but at this point it’s 7 pm and the 2 pm lunch was a long time ago.

We return the van and are in my car at 8 pm.

12 hours to conduct this transaction.

We’re over budget by a few hundred dollars at least, and I will deal with that and Wal-Mart on Monday.

Love them or hate them they put a lot of time and energy into making this work. They kept apologizing and I explained the 8 am and 2 pm screw-ups were theirs; the 6pm onward nonsense was strictly a United Way screw up.

But what truly keeps me awake is that I’m going to be about 150 – 200 backpacks short. I’ll have the filling, which is something anyway, but no backpacks. I have to look at the budget and see what I can do.

We’re hoping for matching dollars from Wal-Mart but that’s a head office decision and those wheels turn slowly.

I believe in miracles and angels so I truly hope something will happen, but it keeps me awake at night, doing math: $10 backpacks, need 200 that’s $2 000 that’s well over budget.

Out there, somewhere is a angel, who can offer me a miracle, if I just work hard enough, I’ll find it.