Jeff Mead, the children’s pastor at the First Assembly of God in Pine Bluff, Ark., decided he wanted to raise money for underprivileged children, so he took his determination 30 feet in the air with the help of Rental Service Corp.
Mead spent a week at the top of a tower to raise awareness of the plight of underprivileged children in the United States.
“Jeff just called in here one day and asked about renting a lift,” said Dean Bearden, manager of the RSC store in Pine Bluff. “When he told me what it was for, we decided to donate the lift to him for the week.” The equipment remained on-site at all times in case of emergency.
Upon descending from the tower on Nov. 24, Mead was well on his way to reaching his fund-raising goal of $15,000. The money collected will be donated to the Boys and Girls Missionary Crusade and their “Up in the Air for Kids” campaign. It will be distributed to 10 charities that assist underprivileged children around the country.
“This has probably been the toughest week of my life,” said Mead. “It has been so cold up here, and it has rained every day but one. I feel as though I’ve actually lived the life of an underprivileged child for a week, and it’s the greatest thing I’ve ever done.”
Throughout the week, Mead collected donations on-site from various sources, including 17 motorcyclists who happened upon the site while driving through Arkansas and a group of local waitresses who pooled their tips to make a donation.
“It’s great we could help out with this,” Rental Service’s Bearden said, “especially because this was such a unique and worthwhile opportunity.”
Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Rental Service Corp. is No. 2 on the RER 100.