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Posts Tagged ‘Tennessee’

Week 13 Kindness Investor: Sibyl W.

Posted in Kindness Investors, tagged , , , , , on March 18, 2011| 1 Comment »

Name:

Sibyl W.
Age?
59 (ouch!)
 
Where do you live?
Brentwood, Tenn.
 
Where were you born?
I was born in Asheville, NC
What’s the highest level of education you have completed?
Graduated high school and took some college courses (Business & Psychology)
Do you have a family?
I’m divorced, no children.  But years ago I had a little sister through the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program.  She’s now grown with two boys of her own.  Her oldest is my godson.
 
How did you hear about the Year of Giving?
I believe it was a story I saw online, possibly MSN but not sure.
 
How long have you been unemployed?
I’ve been unemployed a little over two years, but part of that time I went home to NC to take care of my mother who was very ill.
 
What happened?
I was working for an entertainment marketing company in LA when the recession hit and the company had to cut way back.  We had very well-known clients but even the big guys had to cut spending.
 
Do you currently volunteer?
I currently volunteer at Saddle Up!, it’s a therapeutic horseback riding program designed for physically and mentally challenged children.  I help out with three classes and love every minute of it.

Who have been your biggest influences?

My mother has been the biggest influence in life.  She experienced some tough hardships but the only thing she was ever afraid of… was missing out on the fun with her family.  Another is my brother.  He is such a good person and received all the patience in the family.
 
What is your favorite food?
Chicken Fajitas, love, love, love. Oh, and biscuits and gravy. But not in the same meal. 🙂
 
What is the most meaningful gift you have ever received?
My mother had five brothers and they were all in the service at the time of World War II.  My mother was a teenager at the time and they managed to bring her back an assortment of silver bangle bracelets.  When I was a little girl I loved playing with them.  Even though they were precious to her and she was afraid I would lose them, she gave them to me.  (I still have them.)
 
Describe your ideal job:
Having my own business helping others find what they are passionate about doing and then helping them find a way to accomplish it.

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Day 300 – Maggie O.

Posted in Donation, Food & Beverage, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 29, 2010| 2 Comments »

Giving is the theme of this post!

Click on the link below and help Maggie reach her goal! (photo: Reed)

I found myself swallowed up in a sea of pink on Connecticut Avenue.  I ended up walking south forced by the inertia of the mass of walkers in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure, a 60 mile trek that begins in Maryland and finishes with a spectacular view of the monuments of our nation’s capital.

I found myself next to Maggie, a 46-year-old mother of two who hails from Clarksville, TN.  “I’ve come up here the past three years to join my sister in the 3-Day,” Maggie tells me as she nears the 60 mile marker and the end of her journey.  “My grandmother and a couple of aunts battled breast cancer, but this year I am walking for my friend and coworker who had a double-mastectomy last week.”  She said that her friend was recovering well.

She didn’t hesitate a second and told me, “I’m going to donate the ten dollars to the Komen 3-Day.”  She could use the help too.  She is about $900 shy of the minimum pledge amount that walkers agree to which is $2,300.  She has a few more days to get donations…why don’t you donate $10 today toward Maggie’s goal!  Click here to donate.  I just donated another $10 online to her and it only took a couple of seconds.  And you’ll love her team name too: One TaTa at a Time.

Back home she works with the Wounded Warrior program at Fort Campbell. 

Maggie (right) poses for a photo with her sister who lives in the DC area. (photo: Reed)

She shared with me that she was deployed to Saudi Arabia in 1991.  She and two other women worked along side 300 Sri Lankan men washing all the clothes for the soldiers stationed there.  “It was a scary experience,” she said.  “There was not a night that I didn’t cry myself to sleep,” as a result of the Scud attacks.  

We arrived at the rest station and she got some water and a little rest before making the final steps to the finish line.  We hugged and I congratulated her for her walk and commitment to help find a cure for breast cancer.  She is a giver.  She’s a mother, she serves our country and even finds time to pursue worthy causes like the Komen 3-Day.  Let Maggie serve as a role model for all of us.  

Can you say hero? (photo: Reed)

As I left I saw a man doing the walk with the help of a prosthetic leg.  Tell me that’s not inspiring!  Way to go!

On my way home I saw Tommy from Day 230.  He seemed to be doing ok but was suffering from depression.  He is on medication and is hopeful that he will improve.

By the way, this was 10-10-10 Give a Stranger 10 Bucks Day.  I totally forgot to tell Maggie about this. I was so wrapped up in the mobs of marchers that it totally slipped my mind!  I do do this every day, so sometimes I kind of shift over to auto-pilot.  However, my I met my friend Tricia for lunch and afterwards she gave $10 to my neighbor Howard who walked by!

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