Being good stewards means being good managers! While you might think this post is going down the road to a discussion about giving, stay with me. Today, we’re talking loading ramps and pulled muscles.
You see, I think that being a good steward means being efficient and effective in our work responsibilities. One great example of this is how we load and unload trucks at our warehouse in Graham, N.C.
You see, without a loading dock, it becomes very cumbersome and inefficient to unload trucks bringing bulk ingredients that we will use at Packathons into the warehouse, or to load finished pallets of food headed out to feed hungry children in need here in the U.S. and around the world.
As you can see, the process of loading and unloading has existed as a three-person job: one to drive the forklift and two to stay in the truck using a pallet jack to move pallets around inside the truck. This process could take as much as an hour of valuable time for these three employees.
Being a good steward also means taking care of what He has entrusted to us: the safety of our bodies. There’s a real difference in simply having sore muscles from moving heavy weights on a pallet jack versus pulling muscles because the weight is simply too much. A skid of bulk rice weighs 2,000 pounds, and a pallet of finished food weighs about 1,350 pounds. Just a couple of weeks ago, one of our “inside-the-truck” guys hurt his back and still hasn’t fully recovered.
So, you may be asking, “What’s the point?”
Tomorrow, we will have a used portable forklift ramp delivered to our warehouse to help us be better stewards! This ramp had been on our “wish list” for quite some time, but this week, it actually becomes a reality! People inside the truck will no longer needed. They can happily go back to their other assigned tasks. All that is needed now is simply a forklift driver carrying skids to and from. What a blessing!
We thank the Lord for this generous provision, and promise to be more efficient as a result. If you’re in the neighborhood, please drop by and admire our new ramp.
May God bless you greatly!
UPDATE: The ramp is here!
Just this afternoon (Wednesday), we received the forklift ramp at our headquarters in Graham. As you can see, it is no small piece of equipment! It takes a forklift just to get it off the truck. We are blessed to have this addition to our warehouse and are thankful for faithful donors. Without you, we couldn’t get it done!
– Jim Gurley | Director of Development