Last Sunday during Bible Class, Jeff Wille came up to me looking emotional. He handed me a letter and said, "read it." It was on Glendale Chrysler letterhead and began, "Rev. Scott, Covid-19 has caused financial hardships on many..." My first thought was that their business was suffering and they had lost money. For a moment I suspected they were going to ask us for relief in paying their monthly rent for using the back of our parking lot. I was of course open to helping them as a good neighbor. But that was not the reason for the letter. It was the opposite.
It went on to say, "Covid-19 has caused financial hardships on many including our local churches. We at Glendale Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram have been extremely fortunate during these crazy times. Our customers continue to come and purchase vehicles and have them serviced. Thus our owner and President, Carlo Merlo III, requested a check of $25,000 be sent to your church as a donation and our way of saying 'Thank you' for continuing to be great business neighbors. Together we will get through this crazy time. Thank you, Jenni Belding, General Manager."
I was floored. The next day I went down to thank them in person. Carlo and Jenni greeted me and warmly received our gratitude. I told them that I wish we could invite their workers over for lunch like we did two years ago but Covid prevents that. They said, all that was unnecessary. I asked Tim Cosby to create a poster sized card for us to sign. He’s drawing a picture of the church with all of us waving and yelling “Thank you, Glendale Chrysler!” The council will talk about other ways of being a good neighbor to them as well as what to do with the money. It just goes to show that God’s blessings come from all sorts of directions. We’ve tried to bless all of our neighbors and now they’ve blessed us. Praise God.
