Inspiring a Community

Betty’s experiences drive her to help others. She can never forget what it feels like to be starving and turned away. She’s never forgotten how it feels to be ignored, to have no positive human contact, to have no one to hold or love. “I know hunger,” she says. “I know being a second-class citizen.”

So, for more than 20 years, she has not only fed Eureka’s neediest people but also helped homeless veterans get their benefits and runaways return home, found clothes for poor kids, and committed myriad other acts of kindness, in the process galvanizing an entire support network.

All types of donations come in. Some local businesses regularly give; others do upon request. Anonymous angels leave boxes of clothing and food at her door.

Jerry Bronder, president of St. Vincent de Paul’s board of directors, marvels at the number of people Chinn has motivated to generosity: “There are people who donate to her who wouldn’t think of donating to St. Vincent de Paul, and that’s wonderful because we’re all in the same business.”

Some so-called charitable organizations waste money and resources on “administrative” costs and sheer graft. Whatever Betty receives goes directly to people in need, which may account for one of the most amazing aspects of her work: she receives help without asking for it.

“Asking people for donations is the worst nightmare for me,” says Chinn. “I've begged for things so many times in my life that I don’t ever want to beg for anything again.”

Perhaps the best example of community support for Chinn’s work is the custom-built pickup truck she drives, “Betty’s Blue Angel.”

For years, she had served meals from her own van, until health authorities—threatening to issue a citation—insisted that she use a mobile kitchen or catering truck if she wanted to keep feeding people.

Friends and supporters rallied, forming an ad hoc committee that within months determined what was needed, raised $40,000, and delivered a new canteen truck—all based solely on word-of-mouth “advertising” in Eureka.

Another example: During a Thanksgiving meal Chinn organized, several prominent citizens, including physicians, a lawyer, pastors, and retired teachers, helped serve a candlelight dinner to homeless people. One man, having spent years on the street, cried when the volunteers brought his food and served it with a side of smiles. The volunteers later described the joy they felt at helping those less fortunate than themselves.

For Betty, watching the community get involved is one of the greatest rewards of her work. Mostly, though, she does what she does because she understands both how it feels to need simple human contact and how lucky she is.

“Look at me,” she says. “I’m the American dream. I don’t need anything.”