🧑‍🚒 A friend of the firemen

For years, the volunteer fire department in Calhoun, MO, could barely make ends meet. Mark Hardin, volunteer fire chief of the station, said at one point the organization had $169 in the bank. 

The firemen were using 40-year-old equipment and old trucks that needed repairs. Mark wasn't sure how to keep the department running – until he received a call from 91-year-old Sam Sloan, a retiree who lives two miles up the road.

• After meeting the elderly man for breakfast, Mark was blown away when Sam offered him a check for $500,000. 
• “I’ve never seen a check with so many zeros,” Mark said. “I was at a loss for words.”

💬 What he's saying: “I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, and I knew at this point in my life, I could help,” said Sam, who has lived in the area since 1960. “It’s important to have a good fire department."