After an Albany area pastor acquired a truckload of nursing scrubs, he was inspired to deliver generosity to members of a profession who can use it most.
Recent nursing school graduates are often asked to purchase pricy scrubs for their new careers. Victory Church in Colonie is hoping to ease that burden. Out of a truck loaded with high-end scrubs of various colors and sizes, Pastor Charlie Muller handed them out Wednesday for free.
"I had opportunity to buy a truckload of Scrubs," said Muller, "and I was like, You know what? We're gonna buy that and make them available to nurses and those. And the first one that I served was a young girl that just got her degree, just started working. She only had two sets of scrubs. She said, Because I'm paying all my bills, I'm on my own now. I'm paying my school, and she had to wash her scrubs every third day. So I was, I was so excited because I gave her like eight pairs, so now she has like 10 pairs of Scrubs. "
Muller has done outreach events like this in Albany for three decades. Victory Christian Church recently relocated from Quail Street to a larger facility on Vly Road. Muller now runs three “stores” at 10 North Russell Road in the Westgate Building, next to Westgate Shopping Center.
"We have a store for veterans, it's all free. We have a store for foster kids. It's all free. We have a store for teachers that we're doing right now. It's all free," he said.
In addition to the scrubs giveaway, Muller is also giving away supplies to teachers, who often purchase their own classroom materials.
"It's horrible that teachers have to buy their own supplies for students that have nothing. And it’s same thing with nurses, nurses don't get paid like doctors get paid. They don't. They're working overtime and everything, and some of them don't have a lot of money," Muller said.
Nurse Retchie Tabano came to Albany from the Philippines in 2014 and received her license in 2016. Currently a traveling nurse, she says Muller's generosity is a godsend. "It's so expensive right now and I have to to college, so even if I work my butt off, it's not enough."
Marilyn Wright holds down two nursing jobs to make ends meet. She graduated from Capital Region BOCES in 2023 and passed the board exams last year. "I have to do laundry more than once a week because I run out of uniforms after three days, when I have to go to work for two more days during a week, you know? And a lot of jobs, they don't give you a sufficient amount for the type of things that happen at work. They get stained, they get ripped sometimes, and we need the extra scrubs, and they really give you the bare minimum when you get hired at a job," Wright said.
Pastor Muller said Wednesday’s giveaway will hardly be the last. "This was our first day of giving away the scrubs. We're going to do it over the next three or four weeks. And then once our words out there, they can call, 434-6100, call the church's number. We have, you know, we have voicemails for every single person that will call if you're calling as a teacher, and we'll set you up. We'll call you back and set you up with a appointment."
