91-year-old gave his fire department $1 million!

With their bank account almost empty, Fire Chief Mark Hardin didn’t know how he’d keep the small-town fire station up and running. But then a 91-year-old angel showed up to save the day with a huge check in hand!

- Diane Herbst

At the end of March, Mark Hardin, chief of the volunteer Calhoun, Missouri, fire department sat at his desk, staring at the balance in the department’s bank account: $169. We’re broke, he sighed.

Mark and other volunteers had already been using their own money to fix two of their five broken trucks. With their gear, from the 1980s and 1990s, desperately needing to be replaced, Mark figured he’d be going into his pocket again.

But then, just days later, the firehouse phone rang. Sam Sloan, 91, who lives two miles from the station, introduced himself to Mark and asked, “Could you take me out to breakfast?” Mark didn’t know Sam, but he seemed nice, so Mark said, “Sure.”