By Ida Brown
Her name is Beverly Sankey, but to the residents of Poplar Springs Nursing Center, she is affectionately known as "The Banana Lady."
"She buys 100 bananas at a time and hands them out to the residents," said Leola Jones, who recommended Sankey as a Star of the Week.
Sankey began volunteering at the facility in 2005, during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
"When I asked Pastor Earl (Wheatley of NorthPark Church) if anybody needed help, he told me Poplar Springs Nursing Home and I went over their and volunteered," she said.
Four years later, she visits the facility four days a week, helping serve breakfast and assisting patients to their rooms.
"I enjoy it. I love the people and it's a good working place," she said. "And the people make me feel good, too. We talk about our problems, laugh and have a good time."
A Virginia native, Sankey and her husband of 39 years, Jim, moved to Mississippi to be closer to her ailing sister, who lived in Birmingham. She decided to move to Meridian after reading about it in a magazine.
"It sounded nice and the article said it was a retirement area, so we decided, 'Why not?'" she said. "Plus, it's close to Birmingham, and I had an aunt and some cousins who lived in the area, so we thought it would be a good move. And it has been."
Her sister passed in 2007 and now Sankey takes care of her husband. Twice a week, she gives bananas to the nursing home residents.
"They don't get a lot of fresh fruit and it's something that just about all of them can eat," she said.
Sankey is amused by her "Banana Lady" moniker.
"It doesn't bother me; we all laugh about it," she said.
