TracFone Treats

When Art walked into Choice Financial in Ellendale, the women at the desk could see something was different. He seemed quiet, and thin. His eyes were sad.

“He just seemed lonely,” said Diane Henningsen, a frontline operations manager.

She’s worked at Choice for over 30 years, and Art has been a customer since before she even began. He and his wife Mayme —  “Spelled different than Mamie Eisenhower,” Diane says — built their lives in Ellendale. He was a TV repair man by trade, back when TVs needed someone to come and repair them, and he and Mayme raised their daughter in the tight-knit community. The two had been married since “forever,” according to Diane.

“At least 50 or 60 years,” she said.

As the years went by, their daughter grew up and moved to Nebraska to be a school teacher. Art turned 86 years old. And then, Mayme was gone. She’d fallen ill, and had passed away at the hospital, her family by her side. Suddenly, Art was left to sort through the pieces of a life he’d shared for so long.

It had been two months since Mayme died when Art walked into Choice that autumn day.

Holly Schlenker, a frontline specialist, helped him sort through some things in his account. He was all set to go when a thought seemed to cross his mind.

“Say,” he said. “Would you ever know how to transfer minutes off of one TracFone to another?”

Holly did not, but she said she could help figure it out.

“Why don’t you bring them in next time and I’ll see what I can do?” she said with a smile.

Art reached into his jacket and pulled one phone out of each pocket.

“I’ve got them here,” he said.

Holly smiled and gestured for Art to make himself at home, offering him some of Choice’s fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. He helped himself. It took him a second to figure out the Keurig machine, but with Diane’s help, he soon had himself a piping hot cup of coffee to go along with the cookies.

Meanwhile, Holly worked with two different TracFone representatives to get the minutes transferred.

It turned out there were over 100 minutes left on the old phone that was now accessible to Art. After about 25 minutes, they were ready to go.

Diane watched Holly work with a smile.

“Know when to ask for help, and know when to offer it,” she says, citing one of Choice’s core values. “Holly always knows when to offer help.”

Holly laughs. “For me, it’s part of being raised in a small town. When someone needs help, you help ‘em out.”

Sometimes, the ripple effect of one kind action is unknown. But that day, they noticed Art seemed a bit lighter. With the phones and hot coffee in hand, he turned and nodded at Holly.

“Thank you,” he said. “I really appreciate this.”

And when he walked out the doors, he had a smile on his face.

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