Woman’s car stolen while she handed out gifts at hospital
PEARL Barrett, the education and social outreach manager for Food for the Poor in Spanish Town, St Catherine, learnt the hard way yesterday that “no good deed goes unpunished”.
Barrett, after spending the better part of her morning handing out gift packages to patients at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital in downtown Kingston went back to the car park across the street from the facility to find that her car – a gold 1999 Suzuki Vitara – had been stolen.
“Security told us that we couldn’t park in the hospital, but there is a lot across the street where you can leave your car, and when you come back you give the men something, because they watch it for you,” Barrett told the Observer.
She said that after handing out the gifts at the maternity hospital she and a female friend walked back to the car park, and on not seeing her Vitara, said “Wait so where the car?”
Much to Barrett’s despair, she soon realised that her car had been stolen. The gravity of the situation brought tears to her eyes. Not long afterwards, after Barrett had managed to compose herself, her colleagues took her to the Hannah Town Police Station where she reported the theft.
“We left our handbags in the car. I suppose people are going to blame us for doing that but we were going to be walking up and down handing out gifts so we decided to leave them there,” she said.
“I miss my handbag more than anything else, I left a brand new pair of driving glasses, very expensive glasses in there,” said Barrett.
Despite the loss, Barrett said her resolve to help the poor had not been shaken.
Food for the Poor decided to make contributions to the Victoria Jubilee Hospital following a number of reports highlighting the deplorable state of the hospital.
“In light of the difficulties being experienced by patients at the institution, we have decided to help relieve some of the stress and put a smile on the faces of the mothers by presenting them with maternal gift-baskets from Aveeno Baby products,” said Patrece Charles-Freeman, the director of health services at Food for the Poor.
The packages – 150 in total – which cost approximately US$25 each, were distributed to the management staff at the hospital, patients and to children in the hospital’s nursery.