SPRINGFIELD — An Effingham County High School student has a contagious desire to help. She is spreading it everywhere she goes.

One of senior Keosha Rivers’ latest projects is an old travel trailer that she spruced up. She and her family make it available for homeless people until they can find permanent housing.

“I call this whole building paradise,” Rivers said while leading a tour of the trailer that rests on her family’s Lower Ferry Road property in Clyo.

The trailer doesn’t have air conditioning but has multiple windows that allow air to flow. It also has lots of pillows and blankets.

“She’s trying to fix it up little by little,” said Eva Goldwire, Rivers’ mother.

Rivers’ uncle, Wesley Johnson, helped rejuvenate the trailer. It is stocked with canned goods donated by her brother Alex Manor’s business, I Care Home Care. It also features hot plates and other devices needed to prepare food.

“I want to thank my brother, my uncle, my mom and my step dad (John Goldwire) for helping me with this,” Rivers said.

The trailer project is an offshoot of the aid she provided to an elderly homeless man last December. She purchased a tent, food and clothing for Lenorris Pinckney. He had been living on the streets of Springfield for more than two years.

Pinckney’s plight — he is unable to work because of a medical condition — drew considerable attention after it was reported in the Effingham Herald. He received assistance from some local Samaritans and was reunited with his estranged family.

“Now he knows that people actually care about him,” Rivers said. “It makes me feel better knowing that he has a place to stay and he will get things he needs like food on a daily basis.”

Pinckney currently resides at a rehabilitation center in Claxton.

Helpful thoughts constantly run through Rivers’ head. She intends to make goodie bags to take on road trips in case she encounters someone needy. The bags will be filled with personal hygiene products.

Rivers, who wants to become a nurse, also likes to honor people who share her charitable spirit. On Aug. 9, she rewarded the employees of Smith’s CarQuest Auto Parts in Springfield with a basket of snacks.

The employees have warmly embraced Alfred Goldwire, a likeable but illiterate fellow who enjoys having out in their store. They let him perform simple tasks and joke with him constantly.

Smith’s CarQuest Auto Parts owner Susan Smith said Alfred Goldwire, affectionately called “Albert,” playfully disrupts the workflow on a daily basis.

“He’s our entertainment,” David Tillman said.

“You just don’t know,” Smith added, causing everyone in the store to burst out laughing.

Albert, who proudly wears a CarQuest Auto Parts t-shirt, lives near the store and rides his bicycle to “work.” He can frequently be found sleeping in a display in the window at the front of the store.

Even during the rare occasions that Albert is not in the store, his presence is still evident. A large cutout of him hangs at the front of one of the parts aisles.

“We could not function without Albert,” Smith said. 

The store recognized Albert for his contributions by naming him “Employee of the Year.” A framed picture of him dozing in his favorite spot sits on the parts counter.

Rivers recently recognized Albert, too. She gave him some clothes and a basket loaded with snacks and personal hygiene products.

“That’s so you can be cool for the girls,” Eva Goldwire said.

“That’s right,” Albert said, smiling as he rummaged through the basket like a kid opening a birthday present. “I’m going to see them tomorrow.”