Need a lift? Two didn’t hesitate to help
by Jo Mayer
When a heavy load of food left volunteers with a sinking feeling, two workers from SMW Manufacturing sprang into action to provide a needed lift.
At first, things went according to plan. The South Michigan Food Bank truck arrived March 8 at Jeruel Baptist Church, where the parking lot had been freshly graded. The truck carried four stacked pallets of 150 boxes of food and close to 300 pounds of baked goods.
The driver prepared the first pallet to disembark from the truck ramp and everything seemed to be OK. But as her forklift left the metal of the truck, it gouged into the soft gravel parking lot and became stuck. Unfortunately, the pallet of food stopped half-on and half-off the truck ramp.
Volunteers unloaded the pallet, moving 50 boxes in the hope of lightening the load so the forklift could become movable. No dice. The truck driver tried placing cardboard under the pivoting wheel. No, still stuck.
After calling for someone to bring a tow rope and as cars started to line up for the food distribution event, the volunteers glanced across the street. Through the open garage door at SMW Manufacturing, they observed a big sturdy forklift zipping back and forth.
One volunteer walked over to see if SMW Manufacturing could lend a hand. Steve and Rob came to the rescue and walked over to inspect the site. They quickly determined that their forklift would be big enough to help move the smaller forklift out of its rut.
After freeing the smaller forklift, they unloaded the remaining pallets directly from the back of the truck.
Thanks to their help and with some hurrying by volunteers, food distribution started on time. Within an hour, volunteers handed out every last box of the food.
SMW Manufacturing employees Rob, right, drives the larger yellow forklift and Steve, back, operates the smaller embedded forklift March 8 in the parking lot of Jeruel Baptist Church in Munith. The two helped unload the South Michigan Food Bank truck after a forklift sank into soft gravel. Photo credit: Jo Mayer
