For so many in Moore County this summer's heat has very little impact. Hobbies and sports may be curtailed on those very sweltering days; automobile air conditioning is set at the ultimate cool; homes, while embraced by the sun's rays on the outside, maintain a comfortable temperature level on the inside; and for those who work indoors, the invention of air conditioning is not a luxury, but rather a necessity and taken for granted.

Then there are the clients of the Sandhills/Moore Coalition for Human Care, many of whom struggle to maintain a semi-comfortable temperature on the inside of their dwellings, when outside temperatures of nearly 100 degrees F. bake the frames and surrounding concrete, threatening to mimic those deadly conditions within.

More than 13 percent of Moore County families live below the poverty level right now, according to statistics.

The Rev. Carl Naylor, St. Joseph of the Pines (SJP) director of pastoral care and mission services, came to a realization of what the health care organization's next community benefit project should be while praying with his children one evening.

"It was through the eyes of a child that the idea came about to donate fans to Moore County families who live without the simple things we take for granted," he says.

Naylor's son Carlos, thanked God in his prayers for "the cooling machine." He asked God to "help us remember those who might be hot."

Naylor says the next morning he walked out of his house on the way to work and was caught off guard by the heat.

"The heat was horrible," he says. "Then I remembered the prayer of a child."

A meeting including Naylor, Ken Cormier, president and CEO of SJP, and the volunteer services department resulted in the purchase of 200 box fans by SJP, with the plan to donate them in equal shares to the Moore County Department of Aging and the Sandhills/ Moore Coalition for Human Care.

Both nonprofit organizations have, in the past, been on the receiving end of SJP's various outreach projects.

With the arrival of the 200 fans that were special-ordered from Wal-Mart by SJP purchasing agent Jermaine White, delivery was slated for Thursday, July 10.

Greeting the box truck as it arrived at its first destination, in front of the Coalition, was Sandra Hall of Robbins. This grandmother holds a full-time job as she juggles the precious time she spends helping to raise her two grandchildren with lending time to watch over her own parents, who are in their late 70s.

Hall says she is indicative of many of the Coalition's clients. Hall works hard, having been dealt some harsh deals in life that she struggles to overcome. Yet, she thinks of others.

"There are so many elderly people in Moore County that draw a lot less money than people realize," Hall says. "I'd like to see more of the elderly come in and ask for help from the Coalition."

Any number of reasons could have sent Hall to the Coalition's doorstep. She's the glue holding her family together, sometimes by a thread, but selfless enough to know her prime focus is on the well-being and comfort of the children and other family members in her charge.

This hot day in July, Hall was anxious to pick up a fan as it came off St. Joseph of the Pines' truck. It would drive a breeze over the two small bodies as they sleep, and circulate the air through the five-room house that only very rarely experiences the cool of the air conditioning unit Hall says she can't use because it's too costly.

Hall helped unload the fans, as did other Coalition clients, who were there to seek a little help for one thing or another.

"The neediest of the needy are in worse shape than ever," says Margaret Perez, director of operations for the Sandills/Moore Coalition for Human Care. "We want to get the word out that people suffering from poverty are really suffering."

St. Joseph of the Pines is sponsored by the Sisters of Providence and is a member of Catholic Health East. It includes the Health Center, Therapy Village, Coventry, Belle Meade Retirement Resort, the Villas at Pine Knoll, Overlook at Pine Knoll and the affordable senior living housing communities of Providence Place.

Jeralie Andrews is the director of volunteer services at St. Joseph of the Pines.