Eight Thousand Dollars

Until the office phone rang, Kate Duggan had other plans for the evening of August 8.

But now came word that a group of State Farm insurance agents, who’d volunteered to make and serve dinner at Family Promise of Bergen County’s Walk-in dinner program for the homeless in Hackensack, also had a donation to present.

Kate is executive director of Family Promise, so she got in her car and headed down Route 4.

Then her cell phone rang. More news: The 15-passenger van that carries homeless families between congregations in FP’s sheltering network, which had been in the shop for routine maintenance, suddenly needed $8,000 in non-routine repairs.

Kate is always grateful for any donation of any size. But this was State Farm’s first donation; based on experience, she walked into the dining room not expecting very much.

The agents had mocked up one of those big cardboard checks, and after dinner everyone gathered for the unveiling. Which is when Kate saw that the donation was …. $8,000.

She was able to tell the agents, in complete sincerity, “You have no idea how important this is!’’