Man survives near death experience to help others

He went to New Orleans with the intent of helping those ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. He had hoped to receive smiles and good wishes for his service, which he did, but one thing he received that wasn’t good was hepatitis.

Maricopa resident Russell Dickinson caught Hepatitis C while helping families and the people of the New Orleans area; by the time doctors had diagnosed his disease, he was told he had about six month to live.

“I was shocked,” said.

To help combat the sickness, Dickinson’s mother got on the phone calling state to state, trying to find someone to help her son. Arizona finally stepped up to the plate.

“They said they would pay for the treatment I needed,” Dickinson said.

Arizona would cover the nearly $100,000 that Dickinson’s treatment would cost, and the minister of a church he had volunteered at found him room and board at the home of a fellow minister in Chandler.

While there he underwent a full recovery, but, six months into that recovery, the minister moved to Maricopa, taking Dickinson with him.

During his recovery Dickinson became bored and started to take walks to the local grocery store, purchasing canned food to hand out to the homeless.

It is something he continues to do today in Maricopa.

“I run a food bank that many people have not heard about,” Dickinson said.” It’s called Maricopa Outreach.”

It isn’t only through his food bank that Dickinson is feeding families in the Maricopa area; he also has started to host dinners on the holidays.

For Thanksgiving the giving man gathered donations for food, got commitments from others to prepare the food and even delivered plates to those who couldn’t make it.

This Christmas he will be doing the same, hosting a Christmas dinner at the Ak-Chin Community Park. To facilitate this free meal, Dickinson has gathered food from across the Maricopa area and found people to help prepare it for the feast.

However, he still needs some help with gasoline. “I am having to do a lot of driving to get the food from one place to another, and I will be providing travel to the park for those that need a ride,” Dickinson said.

For more information or to help Dickinson, call (480) 232-9906.

Photo by Michael K. Rich