A terminally ill Florida woman, who said she once served as a city clerk in a small town, is traveling the country in a recreational vehicle, donating money to cities and municipalities like the one she once worked for.
Three Long County public agencies recently benefitted from Carol Landau’s generosity, according to Ludowici Police Department Chief James Rogers. The police department, the Long County/Ludowici Volunteer Fire Department and the Long County Library split $6,000 that Landau donated when she stopped in town.
Landau, who has terminal cancer, contacted Rogers and asked if she could donate to his department. He said he was surprised by the woman’s offer, but was more than willing to accept her assistance.
Landau said she did not want a lot of attention drawn to her donation, Rogers said, but he since has learned that she travels around the country in a recreational vehicle donating to small public agencies she feels she can help.
“She was in her travel home and just dropped in and asked could she help us,” the police chief said.
With the money, LPD bought a gun safe, police pepper spray, 500 rounds of ammunition and emergency lights for a police car.
“She told me that she used to be a city clerk for a small town and she knows how hard it is for small cities and how they struggle at times. … We sure appreciate what she did,” Rogers said.
With its share of the money, the Ludowici/Long County Volunteer Fire Department bought four helmets, 10 pairs of fire gloves and eight radios that will be used during training and on some emergency calls, according to Fire Chief Richard Truman.
He said that the equipment will be a great asset to the department and expressed gratitude to Landau.
“I personally am thankful to Ms. Landau, and on behalf of all of the firefighters, the citizens of Long County and the commissioners, I want to thank her, too. You always hear about the bad things going on in the world, but here you have an example of one person who is really making a difference in spite of the difficulties that she herself is experiencing,” Truman said.
The public library bought an activity table, a play carpet, a steam cleaner and books with its portion of the donation, according to library manager Cathy Jackson, who spoke on the phone with Landau and described her as a “remarkable woman.”
“Ms. Landau is such an inspiration to me and so many other people. At a time when she should be focusing on taking care of herself, she is out giving away all of her earthly belongings and helping others. She is truly a remarkable woman,” Jackson said.
Landau writes about her journey at www.carolsadventures.com.
“I encourage everyone to go to her website. You will be inspired to see what she is doing,” Jackson said.
Rogers said that Landau stopped in Long County and was gone with little fanfare. He felt there wasn’t much he could do to show his appreciation to her, so he least wanted to let the public know what she did.
“This woman came in here and helped us and the fire department and the library — all out of the goodness of her heart,” Rogers said. “You don’t see people doing stuff like this that often.”