MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) — A Tennessee woman was without power for a week, and nowhere she turned for assistance could help her. Then, a Memphis fraternity helped her get back inside her home.
At the end of July, local municipal utility Memphis Light, Gas and Water issued a warning to those with overdue bills that, with cooler temperatures, cut-offs would resume. Thousands were in danger of shut off, including Memphis resident Edna Jackson.
She reached out to NewsNation local affiliate WREG after her efforts to get assistance from several charities were unsuccessful. WREG reached out to many of those same charities, but to no success.
Though Jackson says she’s been in survival mode for months, her situation became especially dire over the past week when she was forced to spend most of her time outside her home.
“I have just been going through it because they have done turned my lights off, the water ain’t on,” said Jackson.
And while she says there was the option to go to a local shelter, she said she couldn’t do it because of her only companion.
“I can’t leave my dog. Because if I go to the shelter, I don’t have nothing,” said Jackson. “I don’t have nothing.”
But when Parrish Oglesby, of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity’s Memphis Alumni Chapter, heard of Jackson’s situation, he and his brothers stepped in. The frat helped raise the hundreds needed to get Jackson’s power restored in just 10 minutes.
“This is not something that’s new to us,” said Oglesby. “This is what we do… We are here to serve the public, in the public’s interest.”
He said this is also a gift for his mom, who taught him the importance of doing for others.
“If it were my mom, I would want somebody to step in for her,” said Oglesby. He added that it all it takes to make a difference for others is for “everyday, average people doing the work.”
Jackson told WREG on Friday her power had been restored.
Meanwhile, Jackson’s neighbor, Keith Leachman, has been dropping off bags of ice to help her stay cool.
“You may not have the blood family to help, but you do have a family,” said Jackson. “I just want you to know that first and foremost… I am happy and I say, ‘Thank God.'”