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BETHALTO - During the COVID-19 Pandemic, there have been many random acts of kindness involving area people. One such action took place on Thursday, May 7, when Eliot Deters, owner of The Mailbox Store in Bethalto, IL., made an 8-hour roundtrip drive to Kansas City, Mo., from Bethalto to deliver a package of chicken of the woods wild mushrooms to Mandi Retter from her brother Ben Retter.
An overnight delivery company failed to pick up the package of mushrooms. Deters knew the mushrooms would not survive another day, so he decided to boost Mandi’s spirits during COVID-19 and deliver them.
Mandi’s brother, Ben Retter, obtained the mushrooms on a hike and posted an image of his bounty on Facebook. Mandi chimed in asking how to cook them and Ben responded saying he’d be happy to overnight her some so she could try them out. At the time, neither were aware of the overwhelming act of kindness one man would make in order for the mushrooms to make it to Kansas City, Mo.
On Wednesday, May 6, Ben went into The Mailbox Store in Bethalto, to overnight the one-pound package of mushrooms. He chatted with the store owner, Deters, and told him about his mushroom hunting hike, and about how he was sending them to his sister to try.
On Thursday, May 7, Eliot Deter noticed the overnight delivery company forgot one package the day before... the box of mushrooms. So knowing that the mushrooms would go bad if they sat on the shelf for too long, without a second of hesitation, Eliot jumped in his truck and drove four hours from Bethalto to Kansas City, Mo., to deliver the package to Ms. Retter.
“The doorbell rang and this man, dressed in plain clothes, was standing at the door with a box. I noticed there wasn’t a delivery truck outside and thought ‘companies must be so overwhelmed that they are outsourcing deliveries to individuals’, Mandi said Thursday. She noticed that the box was addressed to “Amanda” and joked with Mr. Deters about using her full name. He smiled and said, “I know, I talked to your brother. I’m actually from Illinois. An overnight delivery company forgot your package so I drove it all the way here.”
Mandi was completely stunned; “I couldn’t believe he made an eight-hour round trip for some mushrooms! It was an insanely generous act of kindness, and I so wish social distancing wasn’t in place because I would have hugged him right there in the rain!”
Deters’ act of kindness tugged at Mandi’s heartstrings.
She said it was one of the kindest things anyone had done for her in a long time that she wanted to share it.
“I deep fried the mushrooms with my brother’s instructions and they were delicious,” she said. “I was in awe he found as many as he had and what Mr. Deters did for me.”
If you have a Difference Makers story, e-mail news@riverbender.com or text (618) 623-5930.
