Fund Ms. Deborah's Car and Home
Donation protected
Ms. Deborah Paige has been working as a cashier at UNC-Chapel Hill for 40 years, the second-longest working employee for Carolina Dining Services. Fondly known as "Ms. Deborah" to the thousands of students who flood through Rams Dining Hall each day, she is the one who won't let you get through the check-in line without a hello, goodbye or "enjoy, baby!"
Originally, we were just raising funds for Ms. Deborah's car. She lives in Snow Camp, North Carolina, a town about 40 minutes west of UNC, and her car broke down two days before Thanksgiving. Because the repairs were so costly, she rarely went home to see her husband, living with her daughter and sister in Chapel Hill instead so she could catch a bus into work.
The goal of $1,650 to fix her car was reached in a matter of days! We were astounded by the response of the Carolina community and we thought we'd probably stop there, collecting money for a few more days for gas and other expenses, but on Feb. 9 we found out the reason Ms. Deborah hasn't been able to save up to fix her car.
It wasn’t because her pay check was unreasonably low—we want to make this completely clear to fully discredit any claims that Carolina Dining Services has mistreated Mrs. Deborah—but it was because she had to file for bankruptcy on her home last year. She is in a 5-year repayment program and every week about 85 percent of her paycheck is siphoned to it, totaling about $1,600 a month. She's been in the program for a year already, so she has $76,800 left to pay.
So...we've decided to KEEP THIS GOING. We've raised the goal to $78,450, and, somehow, someway, we believe this is going to happen.
Donate, share, tell a friend, and help us give back to an employee who has been faithful to serve us with joy and care!
Never met Ms. Deborah?
Here's an article I wrote about her for class that will help you get a better picture of what kind of lady she is...
'Enjoy, baby’—UNC cashier comforts despite adversity
Deborah Paige sits perched atop a high-backed chair, chestnut eyes bright, horn-rimmed glasses twinkling under the luminescent glare.
“I’ll be by for lunch too, Ms. Deborah.”
“Okay baby, I’ll see you later.”
Paige grins as she swipes the girl’s ONE Card, about the hundredth one of the day, and quickly takes the next student’s, keeping the breakfast line moving steadily. She is the only one working the registers, and students chirp hello and goodbye as they flow through Rams Head Dining Hall. “I love customers,” Paige says. “I love people.” And people love her.
Paige, fondly known as ‘Ms. Deborah’ to the thousands of Carolina students who flood Rams each day, was hired at UNC in 1975, and is Carolina Dining Services’ second-longest working employee. Paige has worked in every food service station on campus, and for the past three years she’s manned the cashier’s spot at Rams for breakfast and lunch on weekdays.
“Even though she’s older than us, she doesn’t talk to you as though you’re a child,” says Sarah Adams, a sophomore who lives in Teague. Adams met Paige when she was a freshman, and now goes by Rams occasionally just to talk with her. “Even though she calls you ‘baby’ and all those names, she doesn’t talk to you as though you don’t have anything to share…She really wants to hear about who you are and what you think about things.” It is not uncommon to find Paige inquiring about students' health, grades or family members as they’re filing through the check-in line. “I believe in treating people like I want to be treated. I believe if I talk to them enough, they’ll start talking to me.” And talk they do.
Paige’s cash register is often crowded with the elbows and hands of students, leaning in close to tell her about accomplishments and anxieties, soaking in Paige’s motherly encouragement. “It’ll turn out okay, baby.”
But Paige’s conversations aren’t just one-sided. Students ask about her life, too, and she has learned to share. Recently a freshman named Ebony began praying with Paige daily, and Paige says that this encouragement has been crucial in this season of her life. “[Ebony] is a powerful person…I guess God is using her to get through to me.”
At the beginning of last year, Paige’s husband was battling his second round of cancer, her son was enduring an illness that kept him moving in and out of the hospital, and Paige had knee-replacement surgery in the midst of the chaos. Still, Paige came to work once she recovered and faithfully greeted and comforted students. “I’m glad I have a faith because that’s what keeps me going…You can’t have a testimony without a test.”
Mixing faith and adversity is not new for Paige—she grew up migrating to different parts of Chapel Hill with six of her siblings after her parents died at a young age. Paige went to five elementary schools, and even attended Lincoln Elementary School, which is now the district’s administrative headquarters, the last year it was segregated. But no matter where they moved, the family faithfully attended First Baptist Church, a brick building sprinkled with stained glass windows perched on the corner of North Roberson and Rosemary streets, right across from Mama Dip’s. Paige got baptized there at 7 or 8 years old, and it was also at First Baptist that she met her husband-to-be, although she “could not stand him” at first. (“I guess I learned to love him.”) Paige’s older sister took care of most of the family, including her own children, so Paige quickly began working to supplement the family’s income, starting at McDonald’s while she attended Chapel Hill High School.
“One of my classmates said, ‘If you don’t want to work at McDonald’s, they’re hiring on campus.’…So I started cashiering there part-time, and once I graduated I just came full-time and just got stuck, sweetie. I just started loving it more and more.” Now Paige plans to work in Carolina Dining Services until retirement, hoping to reach 50 years of employment at the university. Although Paige switches food service venues every few years “to keep from getting bored,” she still remembers students she met 25 years ago, recounting their names when they come by the dining hall with their 18-year-olds during freshmen orientation. “She’s been working there for 40 years, but she knows basically everyone,” Adam says. “It’s pretty extraordinary.”
On this particular weekday morning, almost every student has greeted and thanked Paige as she’s swiped them in. One young man comes up to tell her he’s been feeling a lot better, despite calling in sick to work two times the past week. “I’m sure you made it through. I knew you would do it.” He nods and smiles, lingering a few minutes more to chat.
Paige turns back to the checkout line, arm outstretched to receive another card. The corners of her mouth are turned up slightly, and her face is open, ready to talk. “Every day I wake up and tell myself, ‘I’m too blessed to be stressed and too anointed to be disappointed.’”
Originally, we were just raising funds for Ms. Deborah's car. She lives in Snow Camp, North Carolina, a town about 40 minutes west of UNC, and her car broke down two days before Thanksgiving. Because the repairs were so costly, she rarely went home to see her husband, living with her daughter and sister in Chapel Hill instead so she could catch a bus into work.
The goal of $1,650 to fix her car was reached in a matter of days! We were astounded by the response of the Carolina community and we thought we'd probably stop there, collecting money for a few more days for gas and other expenses, but on Feb. 9 we found out the reason Ms. Deborah hasn't been able to save up to fix her car.
It wasn’t because her pay check was unreasonably low—we want to make this completely clear to fully discredit any claims that Carolina Dining Services has mistreated Mrs. Deborah—but it was because she had to file for bankruptcy on her home last year. She is in a 5-year repayment program and every week about 85 percent of her paycheck is siphoned to it, totaling about $1,600 a month. She's been in the program for a year already, so she has $76,800 left to pay.
So...we've decided to KEEP THIS GOING. We've raised the goal to $78,450, and, somehow, someway, we believe this is going to happen.
Donate, share, tell a friend, and help us give back to an employee who has been faithful to serve us with joy and care!
Never met Ms. Deborah?
Here's an article I wrote about her for class that will help you get a better picture of what kind of lady she is...
'Enjoy, baby’—UNC cashier comforts despite adversity
Deborah Paige sits perched atop a high-backed chair, chestnut eyes bright, horn-rimmed glasses twinkling under the luminescent glare.
“I’ll be by for lunch too, Ms. Deborah.”
“Okay baby, I’ll see you later.”
Paige grins as she swipes the girl’s ONE Card, about the hundredth one of the day, and quickly takes the next student’s, keeping the breakfast line moving steadily. She is the only one working the registers, and students chirp hello and goodbye as they flow through Rams Head Dining Hall. “I love customers,” Paige says. “I love people.” And people love her.
Paige, fondly known as ‘Ms. Deborah’ to the thousands of Carolina students who flood Rams each day, was hired at UNC in 1975, and is Carolina Dining Services’ second-longest working employee. Paige has worked in every food service station on campus, and for the past three years she’s manned the cashier’s spot at Rams for breakfast and lunch on weekdays.
“Even though she’s older than us, she doesn’t talk to you as though you’re a child,” says Sarah Adams, a sophomore who lives in Teague. Adams met Paige when she was a freshman, and now goes by Rams occasionally just to talk with her. “Even though she calls you ‘baby’ and all those names, she doesn’t talk to you as though you don’t have anything to share…She really wants to hear about who you are and what you think about things.” It is not uncommon to find Paige inquiring about students' health, grades or family members as they’re filing through the check-in line. “I believe in treating people like I want to be treated. I believe if I talk to them enough, they’ll start talking to me.” And talk they do.
Paige’s cash register is often crowded with the elbows and hands of students, leaning in close to tell her about accomplishments and anxieties, soaking in Paige’s motherly encouragement. “It’ll turn out okay, baby.”
But Paige’s conversations aren’t just one-sided. Students ask about her life, too, and she has learned to share. Recently a freshman named Ebony began praying with Paige daily, and Paige says that this encouragement has been crucial in this season of her life. “[Ebony] is a powerful person…I guess God is using her to get through to me.”
At the beginning of last year, Paige’s husband was battling his second round of cancer, her son was enduring an illness that kept him moving in and out of the hospital, and Paige had knee-replacement surgery in the midst of the chaos. Still, Paige came to work once she recovered and faithfully greeted and comforted students. “I’m glad I have a faith because that’s what keeps me going…You can’t have a testimony without a test.”
Mixing faith and adversity is not new for Paige—she grew up migrating to different parts of Chapel Hill with six of her siblings after her parents died at a young age. Paige went to five elementary schools, and even attended Lincoln Elementary School, which is now the district’s administrative headquarters, the last year it was segregated. But no matter where they moved, the family faithfully attended First Baptist Church, a brick building sprinkled with stained glass windows perched on the corner of North Roberson and Rosemary streets, right across from Mama Dip’s. Paige got baptized there at 7 or 8 years old, and it was also at First Baptist that she met her husband-to-be, although she “could not stand him” at first. (“I guess I learned to love him.”) Paige’s older sister took care of most of the family, including her own children, so Paige quickly began working to supplement the family’s income, starting at McDonald’s while she attended Chapel Hill High School.
“One of my classmates said, ‘If you don’t want to work at McDonald’s, they’re hiring on campus.’…So I started cashiering there part-time, and once I graduated I just came full-time and just got stuck, sweetie. I just started loving it more and more.” Now Paige plans to work in Carolina Dining Services until retirement, hoping to reach 50 years of employment at the university. Although Paige switches food service venues every few years “to keep from getting bored,” she still remembers students she met 25 years ago, recounting their names when they come by the dining hall with their 18-year-olds during freshmen orientation. “She’s been working there for 40 years, but she knows basically everyone,” Adam says. “It’s pretty extraordinary.”
On this particular weekday morning, almost every student has greeted and thanked Paige as she’s swiped them in. One young man comes up to tell her he’s been feeling a lot better, despite calling in sick to work two times the past week. “I’m sure you made it through. I knew you would do it.” He nods and smiles, lingering a few minutes more to chat.
Paige turns back to the checkout line, arm outstretched to receive another card. The corners of her mouth are turned up slightly, and her face is open, ready to talk. “Every day I wake up and tell myself, ‘I’m too blessed to be stressed and too anointed to be disappointed.’”
Organizer
Caitlin Ball
Organizer
Chapel Hill, NC
