Mission of Mercy

SEFFNER, Fla. - St. Francis Assisi Catholic Church in Seffner is a busy place at all hours of the day-- and that's thanks for Bryan Thatcher.

The retired physician does a number of things for the community and his church, and one of those things is collecting donated medical supplies.

"These poor countries, they have no electricity. It's like, where do you start with?" They have no roads, they have no water. All I can do is my little grain of sand. If everyone does their grain of sand then before you know it, you have an ocean," Bryan Thatcher told FOX 13 News.

The donated supplies get sent overseas to countries in need, such as countries in Africa, Philippines, and the most recent shipment going to Ukraine.

"The walkers, the crutches, the wheelchairs, the medical supplies, bandages, the gauze-- I've got a lot of knee braces and orthopedic stuff in there, it's amazing. A few years ago... we did over 125 containers. I did the math and the estimated cost of everything given is 25 million dollars," Thatcher said, in awe himself.

It was on one of those trips to these poorer countries that he learned the lesson that has carried him through life ever since.

"In the poor countries they might not have anything, but they have each other. and that's what they taught me. The poor and uneducated taught the wise man and their so happy because they have their families." Thatcher said.