by Sandy Coleman Boston Globe January 25, 2007
In a world hungry for giant plasma TVs and supersized mansions, Jim and Terry Orcutt have chosen the other extreme. They live in a modest rented apartment. They drive old cars. And their furniture is, by their own estimation, not as nice as the furniture they deliver daily to area families in need..
“But, you know what?” says Jim Orcutt. “When I get up, I hear the heat come on…. I have electricity. I have milk and bread in the refrigerator.” Says Terry Orcutt: “We have everything we need.”
The Orcutts embrace their spare, spiritual life — and in doing so, they are receiving national attention from those who share their devotion and want to shed light on how others can follow the same path to kindness.
Nearly 20 years ago, the Easton couple founded My Brother’s Keeper, delivering food and furniture to people in need. The nonprofit organization — which has grown over the years — is the subject of a new DVD produced by Family Theater Productions of Hollywood. Entitled “The Luminous Mysteries: Compassion to Service,” it is the latest in a series that explores the rosary and how to turn beliefs into action. It will air on Catholic TV’s cable network.
The Orcutts — he is 67, she 62 — last year made 5,000 deliveries of food and furniture from their sizable warehouse. Clients include the elderly deciding between buying fuel oil or prescriptions, single mothers working minimum-wage jobs, and fathers who have lost their jobs, but not their hope to provide the best they can for their families.
“People tend to stereotype the poor. They think people are stupid and in a situation because of their own fault,” said Jim Orcutt. But most of the people the organization helps are working but still struggling, he said.
The Orcutts are quick to say that they are not just delivering bread and beds; they are delivering hope. They also say they are not so special, that anyone can choose to be their brother’s keeper.
“We have this inherent part of our soul… that says help others. But we also want to be successful,” said Jim Orcutt. “We need to find the difference between that point when we have enough… and having it all.”