O’Brien’s Angels is an informal group of do-gooders that gather on Facebook to connect those in need with people who have something to give. The group was founded in the summer of 2017 to celebrate the agency’s 60 years in business and has been doing amazing work in our community ever since!
There are many selfless, empathetic kindness warriors in this group and we checked in with one of them to see how everything is going during this difficult time. Monetary donations, gift cards, and physical items have been coming in recently as part of the Angel’s “Spreading Kindness” campaign.
Rebecca Burgess considers herself a secret angel. She stays mostly behind the scenes going out to spread the wealth to those in need.
“During the pandemic, I’ve been pretty much quarantined because I have Lupus along with a few other health issues. With keeping quarantined comes a bit of sadness and depression. I reached out to John one day just to check in and things just seemed to align, where I am able to find local community members in need and help them with funding from O’Brien’s Angels.”
Rebecca has distributed funding from O’Brien’s Angels to help feed animals with special needs, purchase a fan for a mother whose son is asthmatic, and chipped in a little bit toward folks struggling with rent or medical equipment, too. She has also been able to randomly distribute a few gift cards to cheer folks up during these hard times.
They say, “You’re a blessing from God, you have no idea,” she says. The funding is meant to be just that — a blessing, a little something to help someone out in a pinch or make someone’s day.
“I can not even begin to explain the impact it has on our community. Every single person helped has been nothing but thankful and grateful. Some have even taken charge and created their own way to help. I am thankful for the opportunity to be entrusted with this task and I promise I won’t let you down.”
John O’Brien, founder of O’Brien’s Angels, is always looking for ways to brighten people’s days and help them out. He realizes that these are dark times, moments where people are looking in two directions, and needing to choose fear or love. He hopes that hearing about these small acts of kindness will spark others to do the same; to find ways to lift one another up while we are all struggling to navigate these feelings.
We believe in you, Rebecca! Thank you to you and to all the angels for your dedication and drive to make our community stronger. In times like these, it can be hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel but people like you shine bright enough to illuminate the way. We are truly all in this together.
O’Brien’s Angels look forward to continuing to take good care of people every day! In this Facebook group, we invite the public to share what you have to offer, ask for donations on behalf of those in need, submit prayer requests, and share faith-in-humanity stories.
Please join O’Brien’s Angels on Facebook to see how you can give back to our community!
