As our team of four walked into the Thompson School Book Depository warehouse in Oklahoma City on a windy Wednesday morning, we were amazed to see that all of our 230,000 books, 5500 boxes, and 120 pallets had been so thoughtfully organized by title by the warehouse staff. This small, yet incredibly considerate gesture saved us hours of work, making the distribution run much more smoothly. Additionally, not only were we given plenty of room to work in and a nice, cool breeze from outside (despite the 90 degree heat), to our astonishment we were also provided with our own personal forklift driver, Rito, who was always one step ahead of us. By the end of the first day and with the help from our small team of volunteers we were delighted to have labeled and shipped almost half of the books.

The second day ran just as smoothly, although we were a bit sore and exhausted. However, with the help of two women from the Office of the First Lady of Oklahoma and two more women from the Pi Beta Phi Alumni Association, we were able to finish up the distribution just as the warehouse was closing. This “perfect” distribution will be a hard one to live up to in the future, but we now know that it can done!