Everybody’s angel
story by Britney McIntosh
Some people have planners, others have iPhones. Donna Herndon has what she calls "the original palm pilot."
Her daily to-do list is neatly printed in blue ink on her weathered palms first thing in the morning and scrubbed off at the end of the day when she "washes her hands of her responsibilities."
The hands that organize her days are the same ones that fold daily in prayer for the sick, care for the poor, dry the tears of the hopeless and leave people feeling like they've truly been touched by an angel.
"Some people collect cats, some people collect dogs," said Donna’s husband, C.W. "Woody" Herndon. "My wife, she collects people."
Donna Herndon, 67, has a soft heart and can't turn away anyone in need, she said. She is a longtime volunteer and community leader in a variety of positions with one common denominator — she’s always in a position to help others.
Donna said she helped lower the juvenile-arrest rate in Murray by 75 percent in the 1970s. Now she helps felons get back on their feet after serving their sentences. She is responsible for Kentucky Homeplace Program funding that helps people gain access to medical services.
Angels are a theme in Donna’s life. She founded Angels Attic, a thrift store that funds Angels Clinic, a community health-care center for people without insurance. Recently she helped a woman, abandoned and abused by her husband, straighten up her life and find her way back home to her family in Maryland.
"Donna has truly been an angel to this community, said friend Le Ann Boone, who goes for walks with Herndon in the mornings. “They just don't make people like her anymore."
As she walked down the dimly-lit streets of her neighborhood, Herndon made use of the one hour of her day she spends on just herself -- chatting with Boone before dawn's light flickered through the trees, highlighting the world that she will soon rush to rescue.
As she bid her friend farewell and turned to make her way home, a streetlight illuminated her tightly wound bun. A halo of light fell on her head, and she smiled.
She said she is constantly amazed at the power of God and the seemingly unmanageable things he has made possible through her life.
"I don't see things as impossible," Donna said, laughing. " I just see things as challenges."
Donna Herndon smells some of her good friend Pat Miller's home-grown orchids in her dining room.
Donna Herndon gives Marchelle Johnson, left, the news that she finally found a way to get Johnson back home to Maryland where her family lives. Johnson was abandoned by her husband in Murray and was stranded without transportation and a cell phone for months. "You are a godsend and my angel," Johnson told Herndon.
Jean Blankenship leads the women's Bible study at University Church of Christ on 12th Street in Murray.
Donna Herndon oversees a group of Class D Felons from Callaway County Jail who are part of a work crew. Serving on a work crew is a privilege based on behavior and sentencing. The workers earn $.69 cents a day.
Donna Herndon, left, talks with Marchelle Johnson about finding a way to get Johnson to Maryland. Johnson, abandoned by her husband in Murray, wants to reconnect with her family in Maryland. Herndon wants to get Johnson home and out of a legal problem.
Donna Herndon, 67, right, and Nelda Murphy, embrace in Angels Attic , a thrift store on Chestnut Street that was started by St. John’s Episcopal Church. Herndon started a free clinic for people without insurance there. The two are longtime friends.
Donna Herndon uses "the original palm pilot," to organize her life, she says. Every morning she makes a daily "to-do" list on her left palm and washes her hands at the end of the day after completing her tasks.
Pat Miller, left, and Donna Herndon, right, laugh and gossip in Pat's new bed. The two have been close friends since before they can remember.
Although Donna Herndon spends most of her day caring for other people, her hour-long morning walks through her neighborhood is her time to focus on herself. "It's my 'me' time," Donna said.