03/10/2024
FORMER PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER BROUGHT BACK TO THE STAGE THREE TIMES
Last night at Pittsfield's go to hot spot, 'Hot Plates', hosted the first 'All Spanish Open Mic' in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. Former Peace Volunteer, Eddie O'Toole was invited to participate and thrilled the crowd so much that they asked him back to the stage three times!
O'Toole started out the evening with a plea to the audience to attend an 'Open House' he is conducting this Saturday at his warehouse space in Pittsfield. Eddie, a volunteer with Berkshire Amistad, collects good used medical and educational equipment to then ship to Honduras. O'Toole explained that every Tuesday a 40ft container of bananas is unloaded in Hatfield Massachusetts. That container goes back to Honduras for more bananas. This happens every week and has been happening for the last 20+ years.
O'Toole also explained, that last 10 containers he has been able to ship with the help of Berkshire Medical Center, Fairview Hospital, UCP of Pittsfield and the many individual people from Berkshire County and beyond, have had the same shipping problems because Berkshire Amistad , although a non-profit here and non-profit in Honduras, did not have its own tax-free import license and was forced to work with other organizations in Honduras that did. The Best news. Now Berkshire Amistad has its own license to import into Honduras. This means, that besides not having to pay import taxes, the shipment moves through the port in Honduras smoothly and quickly avoiding costly penalties.
O'Toole shared three of his favorite stories. A neighbor in Guaimaca needed a prosthetic leg below the knee. Eddie found one here in the Berkshires, shipped it to Honduras and even helped her fit the prosthetic. O'Toole told the audience how grateful this neighbor was, just to be able to wash the dishes and look into a backyard filled with flowers.
O'Toole's second story about disassembling a building in Sringfield, putting the parts, (doors, circuit breaker panels, and toilets) in a bus. That bus was shipped to Honduras and when unloaded, a local Honduran bought the bus and paid all the shipping cost. Although the crowd loved that story it was the next story that got the most applause
When Eddie was in 8th grade in Rockville Centre, NY he told his mom that he in longer wanted to follow his 4 older brothers and sister to the same catholic high school in town. Eddie's mom said 'if you work this summer, you can go to any high school you want'. Eddie asked Tex, the owner of the gas station where his dad bought gas, if he was hiring anyone for the summer. He told me to come in Saturday morning in jeans, and I got a job. Tex wanted me to check to oil and wash to windows of every car that comes to the station. Eddie told Tex how he had no experience working on cars and didn't know how to check oil. Tex asked, if the 8th grader knew how to ask questions, Tex said 'you can do anything'. Later that same day after what seemed like 100 questions, Tex explained that a Renault wagon needed a water pump today. Again this 8th grader cried that he had no experience! Again Tex asked if he could ask questions, responding that he could, Tex said, 'you can do anything'. As the crowd cheered O'Toole said that he had applied this lesson throughout his life
