Top left: Bob Heindl organizes tickets for the Gathering’s Breakfast Program; Top right: Sam hands out silverware in the serving line; Bottom: 7/22 Sharon’s birthday breakfast sausage and eggs
The morning of July 22nd, 2014, the Gathering celebrated a special meal in memory of Sharon Heindl. Sharon passed away a little over four years ago from breast cancer. Her husband, Bob, has been a dedicated volunteer at the Gathering for over 7 years and has most recently taken on a position as a member of the Board of Directors. On July 22nd, Sharon’s birthday, the Heindls sponsored a breakfast meal complete with eggs and sausage and volunteered their time in honor of her.
For Bob and his family, the Gathering has been an important ministry. Bob and Sharon used to travel to work together and swap stories about the Gathering.
“I thought it would be a good thing. I believe that people who have been blessed in life have an obligation to give something back—to life, and to other people.
Bob continued, “So it worked out well that I could drop her [Sharon] off at the office downtown, and then I could just slide in here and volunteer one day a week. Because she worked, she never could volunteer here, but she was very interested. She enjoyed hearing the stories…she didn’t know the people but she knew of them through the stories.”
After Sharon passed away, Bob remembered one of the conversations they had about the Gathering and this conversation sparked an idea that has turned into a beautiful tradition.
“Well my wife got breast cancer and went through all the surgery and chemo and radiation and she died a little over four years ago. The first year after she died I was a little too torn up at that time. But I think it was the second year after she died that I remember a conversation she and I had where I talked about how we used to have eggs once a week at the Gathering and that wasn’t happening anymore. I distinctly remember this conversation, because she worded her response kind of strangely, she said, ‘They shall have eggs!’ So I decided that, on her birthday, I wanted to provide eggs to the Gathering. So yeah, in Sharon’s memory and because its something I want to do, it makes me feel good and I’m sure she’s happy about it somewhere – I provide eggs to the Gathering.”
Bob and Sharon’s daughter, Sam, as well as Sharon’s sister Kathy and Bob’s two great-nephews Colin and Jonathan came along to volunteer as well. Together, they served delicious eggs and sausage to almost 200 guests. The Gathering is so thankful for Bob and the Heindl family, and honored to have been a part of Sharon’s life.