After recovering from a devastating illness, Sappington finds joy in ‘paying forward’ her good fortune

There are perhaps hundreds of people in need across Poplar Bluff who have encountered the woman they only know as, “the lady in the red truck.” Although most don’t know her name, they certainly know that she cares enough about them to volunteer her time to stop and ask if they need anything, and offer her help. “The lady in the red truck” routinely goes into various neighborhoods about the city, bearing gift boxes of food from the Poplar Bluff United Gospel Rescue Mission.

Laura Sappington is “the lady in the red truck.” She has been quite happy to be known for her deeds only, a face without a name. She has always felt that giving is something one does without the expectation of anything in return, so she is uncomfortable receiving accolades or recognition. When she makes her delivery runs using her husband’s red truck, in her mind she is only performing her reasonable service as a Christian. She volunteered to help with the food giveaways because her heart is touched by the people she helps and because she knows what it is like to struggle.

“My family grew up poor, but blessed,” she states, simply. “Although we were poor, we didn’t go hungry, and I don’t want anyone else to, either.”

Laura believes the best way she can make a difference in the world is to try to ensure the people within her reach have the basic necessities of life.

Her devoted husband of 15 years, Doyle, agrees. He married Laura after a two-month whirlwind courtship, and they are nearly inseparable. They dress alike, and he naturally also got drawn in by her passion for mission work. A retired veteran who served in both the US Marines and the Army, he nominated his wife for “Difference Makers” because he has seen first-hand what the deliveries have come to mean to the elderly and others, some of whom do not have vehicles to drive to the Mission when boxes are distributed.

“I started helping out by dropping off one or two meals that Doyle and I would buy at restaurants. Pastor Gregory Kirk, who heads the Mission, says when people come seeking shelter they are usually hungry, too, and that no gift of food or clothing is too small,” says Laura.

Doyle says soon after that his wife also prepared soups, chili, desserts, cookies, ice cream and individual meals and took those to the shelter, sometimes 3-5 times a week.

The Mission’s weekly distributions of food are boxed up and shared freely with anyone who needs it. The food is donated and so plentiful that there is usually excess. Some of it would go to waste if not for Laura Sappington. “A big contributor to the project is our neighbor John Beis and his wife, Mary, who own Maverick Glass. I offered to deliver the [surplus] boxes because I thought it would be a shame for food to spoil when there are people who need it,” she says.

“The Mission started contacting me to pick up the excess boxes back in the Spring. The pandemic had hit and people were practicing social distancing. So I delivered to the residents at Twin Towers and the women’s shelter, and went to the south, southeast and east sides of Poplar Bluff. I don’t knock on doors, I just drive around looking for people out walking or in their yards or sitting on porches and I offer to give them the boxes of food,” she says, adding, “I let them [the recipients] know the food is a gift from the Mission. I don’t claim credit for it. I just make the deliveries. The real difference makers are my friends at the Mission, people like “Doc,” Travis, Alan, Fluffy, Moses, George Fadule, Earl the Pearl and John Shaw.”

Doyle estimates they deliver from 30 to 100 boxes each week. He feels the blessing of God through what Laura is doing. “Many times people will tell us we were sent as an answer to a spoken or unspoken prayer. For instance, we saw a lady on her porch two weeks ago and asked her if she would like some free fruit and vegetables donated by the Mission. She started crying and said she had just told her daughter how badly she wished she had some fruit. Another woman told us, not only had she been praying someone would help her feed her family, but had just said, ‘Amen’ when we showed up.”

Laura is humbled at the thought that she might be an answer to anyone else’s prayer, because she believes the prayers of her family saved her life in 1999, when she survived a brain aneurysm. Her doctors predicted she would never cook or drive---both of which she has since done for others as a testimony of what God has done for her.

She says, “I’m just paying it forward. I had to re-learn everything, and still suffer from short-term memory lapses. I try to keep a full tank of gas because I sometimes get lost and forget where I am, even sometimes how to get back home. I just keep driving until something triggers my memory,” she says. She also has a service canine, Sophie.

Laura often uses her own resources when there is a need that cannot be met through the Mission, says Doyle. “She isn’t wealthy by any means, so she shops the Dollar Tree and yard sales. When she finds needed items she brings them home and cleans them up. Any clothing she gets, she washes and irons before taking the articles to the person who needs them,” he says.

She adds, “God supplies. I remember after one shopping trip I told Him, ‘God, if I’d had more money, I could have done more.’ I found a 100-dollar bill on the ground that someone had dropped. So, I went back and spent another $101 for items to give away,” she says.

Doyle recalls, “Laura met a man at the shelter who only had the clothes on his back. He needed 5X clothing, and he couldn’t find anything in his size. Laura promised him she would try to find him something and then someone told her about a specialty shop in Cape Girardeau that had clothes up to 7X. We drove there so that Laura could buy the man some shirts.”

As Doyle shares this memory, Laura giggles, remembering, “I guess I got a reputation for having connections. After that, another really shy man came up to me and quietly said, ‘I heard you can get...stuff... for people like me.’ This man wore a large size, too. I laughed because if anyone had overheard, they might have gotten a really bad impression of what he might be talking about. But I knew he was talking about clothes.”