MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A disabled veteran and Stax musician is in need of some help after the massive power outages over the weekend forced him to get rid of some groceries.
“I’m feeling terrible because I have a lot of food because there’s a pandemic, and I had stocked up…” William ‘Chilly Bill’ Rankin said.
Rankin was one of more than 52,000 Memphis Light, Gas and Water customers who lost power when a storm blew through the area on Friday. He said his lights were off until Sunday night.
“It was so rough that I didn’t know why my lights were out,” Rankin said. “My lights went out not because of the rain, it went out because of wind.”
In order to stop ruining the food Rankin had stocked in his freezer, he gave much of it away to others in need.
“I don’t get a stimulus check,” Rankin said. “…I don’t get food stamps, and there are a lot of other folks out here in the same situation.”
Although his freezer has far less food, he said he was ecstatic when his lights came back on.
Now he’s hoping he can get some help in order to restock his fridge.
“Memphis Light, Gas and Water, please make some kind of arrangement that when people lose all their food, who aren’t on food stamps, don’t get a stimulus check, please find a way to compensate them,” Rankin said.
