FURNACE DONATED TO ELDERLY WOMAN

Several area businesses and agencies are giving an elderly Cape Girardeau resident the gift that keeps on giving this Christmas: heat.

The Cape Girardeau Public Health Center and Division of Aging teamed up with Flori Sales and Service, 101 William, to purchase a new furnace for an elderly female whose heat was disconnected Tuesday morning. Her faulty furnace was creating a carbon monoxide danger.

The woman did not want to be identified.

"She lives in an old trailer home, and she almost died from carbon monoxide poisoning," said Carol Sarff, an LPN and public health nurse for the Cape Girardeau Public Health Center. "Luckily, the trailer was old, and there was enough air coming in from cracks around windows and the like to keep her from dying."

Sarff said her agency and the Division of Aging learned of the woman's problem from a concerned neighbor.

"We got a call from a neighbor who asked if we could do anything," she said. "They told us she lived alone and needed help, so we got on the phone and started calling people."

After speaking with the neighbor, Sarff called Flori Sales and Service, which had inspected the furnace and said it could not be fixed. She said she explained the woman's circumstances to the company secretary, Jeannie Wallace, who spoke with general manager Mike Seyer and with Ralph Flori, technical adviser and former owner.

"She sounded like she really needed some help," said Wallace. "If it were my grandmother, I'd want her to have some heat."

Wallace said the company agreed to provide the furnace at cost, and all shipping and handling costs were covered free of charge. The company also did not charge for labor or supplies, she said.

Sarff said the company went above and beyond the call of duty by helping the lady in her time of need. "A new furnace costs around $1,000, and we just didn't have the money to place in one lump sum for one person," she said.

Sarff said the woman went to a bank and tried to get a loan to buy a furnace but could obtain one because she didn't have any collateral.

"Even though it's a small company, they saw there was a need and they stepped in," she said.

Meyer said his company helped the woman for several reasons. "Well, it's Christmas time for one," he said, "and also, the temperature is about 15 degrees. And it also just seemed like the thing to do in the spirit of the season."

Wallace said the furnace is being delivered prepaid express, and should arrive by 7:30 this morning. "We don't anticipate anything longer than a one-day job," she said. "It's our plan to have her heat back on today."