Disabled veteran making a difference serving neighbors

Many people wonder “What can I do? I’m just one person, and I don’t have much money.” But one person can make a big difference to a lot of people.  Bill Eberting is 69 years old, disabled, and lives on $800/month social security and $200/month in food stamps – and yet on a recent Sunday he served 140 hamburgers, 120 hot dogs and gave away 130 pounds of chicken to the underprivileged residents of the Timberlee apartment complex.  Eberting spent his dad’s small inheritance on a used school bus, trailer to haul tables and supplies, with a grill mounted on the back, and three freezers to hold the food that he believed would be donated.

A few weeks ago, Eberting invited Joe Weir to drive by Ripley Park to see and experience what he loves to do.  Weir showed up only to find that none of his help made it, and he was alone with his propane cooker leaking gas.  Weir drove home and loaded up his grill in the pickup and they cooked and served eighty hot dogs, chips and Kool-Aid that Sunday afternoon.

Since then a benefactor has donated 4,000 hamburgers and over 1,000 hotdogs, several cases of burritos, buns, chips, condiments, paper plates, cups and a sundry of other goods have been donated to help out with Eberting’s Sunday outreaches.

Eberting and Weir, along with a few friends and relatives, have been helping serve the people around Ripley Park ever since.  Several of the residents have also pitched in to help.

Worship teams from the Topeka area churches have been invited to provide live music.  Face painting for the kids along with popcorn and a movie are other activities that have been offered.

For Eberting it’s all about following the urgings of the Holy Spirit, serving others and introducing people to Jesus Christ. He is not able to fund his ministry himself, but that doesn’t stop him.

“The Lord just opens doors for me,” he said.

Eberting himself would love to do more but would never ask for support.  He is one of the true servants of Christ, humble and completely dependent on the Lord to meet his needs.  However, he is limited by his finances and physical disability.  Anyone wanting to help out can find him in Ripley Park on Sundays, or on his Facebook page (William Eberting).

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