Sheldon Theragood has
been a police officer
since 2010, and he also
works on his volunteer
organization that gets
kids involved with doing
good for the community. (Courtesy of Sheldon Theragood)
From the time he was a teenager, Sheldon Theragood has mentored young kids. With dreams of becoming an NBA basketball player, Mr. Theragood often practiced on the ball court and would teach ball tricks to kids who wanted to learn from him. “I was able to dribble the ball very well. Kids would actually come to the game just to see me make some moves,” he laughed. “It made a place in my heart.”
But due to arthritic pain in his hips, Mr. Theragood was cut from the basketball team during his junior year of college at Texas Southern University. “I had to figure out what else I could do,” he said. He got hired as a youth detention officer in Harris County, Texas. “Working there, I was going to be around teenagers who had made life mistakes. I felt like that was going to be a great place for me to help teenagers.”
Mr. Theragood spent time mentoring the youth, listening to them, and helping them build a plan for when they would be released. However, after working there for four years, he was discouraged to see some of the youth get re-detained. “All the staff were excited to see this kid leave and all of a sudden two months later, he’d be back.”
He decided that becoming a police officer was the best way he could help. “I thought that was the only position for me; the whole deal for me was to save the kids’ lives out on the streets, and to do whatever it takes—that’s my motto—to make a difference.” While patrolling the streets, Mr. Theragood would not only encounter at-risk teens but also many homeless. When he first joined the Houston, Texas, police force, he became a member of the police department’s homeless outreach team, which would provide housing, rehab, access to daily necessities like clothing and toiletries, and services meant to help them get out of homelessness. Mr. Theragood then realized that he could teach teens valuable lessons through introducing them to the homeless men and women he met. “I brought them so that they could understand that nobody’s born like this,” he said. “This is just choices. Hey man, this could be you. Sometimes you have to be realistic with them and give them that little scare so they start thinking, ‘I want to change my life.’”
Mr. Theragood volunteers at a blankets and clothing giveaway for the homeless during the 2023 holiday season. (Courtesy of Sheldon Theragood)
So in 2010, Mr. Theragood got the inspiration to start TheraGood Deeds, a nonprofit to involve children of all ages and backgrounds in community service. He envisioned gathering kids with a troubled past and straight-A students, hoping that they would learn from each other’s experiences. After he got support from a community center to introduce kids to his program, his nonprofit took off, with children ages 4 to 16 doing at least one community outreach project per month. Activities range from serving in soup kitchens to hosting a Christmas toy drive and organizing celebration events for the homeless. He is constantly looking for new project ideas. “Wherever the help is needed, we want to provide a service. I’ll never say no.”
Mr. Theragood at an Easter-themed event with children participating in his TheraGood Deeds organization. (Courtesy of Sheldon Theragood)
The children enjoy spending time together and making new friends. “We have a good time, so it’s also catering to their enjoyment of life,” he said. “We hang out, we go to the basketball court and play. Their friends see them being part of something that looks exciting, and they want to join, too.” Over the years, some of the teens who joined TheraGood Deeds have grown up and gone to college, and thanks to donations from local sponsors like the Ashley Jadine Foundation, the nonprofit is able to provide them with scholarships.
(Courtesy of Sheldon Theragood)
Princess Jackson, 21, started doing outreach projects with TheraGood Deeds in 2014 and said that the experience has taught her humility by seeing and working with people in need. Ms. Jackson, who also happens to be Mr. Theragood’s stepdaughter, said that her stepfather also showed through his example how to be a giving person who serves others. “He is a great man of faith. Not only does he tell you what is the right thing to do, but he shows it and he walks it.”
Tiger Woods with the 2011 cohort of Earl Woods scholars, who receive financial aid, mentoring, and other support for their post-high school careers. (Courtesy of TGR Foundation)
Golfing legend Tiger Woods is most proud of his foundation’s work in educating youth. His TGR Foundation is led by Cynthia Court, whom he tapped in June 2023 to become CEO and expand the educational initiatives the foundation offers in under-resourced communities across America.
According to Mrs. Court, if students do not have access to qualified teachers, stable learning environments, educational resources, extracurricular activities, and advanced classes, they are less likely to graduate from high school or pursue a post-secondary education. This means that they would not be able to secure meaningful work that pays a livable wage.
In 2006, Mr. Woods first set up a TGR Learning Lab to encourage students in fifth to 12th grades to thrive in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) and possibly develop future careers in those fields. Since then, the foundation has established other satellite campuses around the country, in Washington, D.C., South Florida, and Quantico, Virginia.
Mr. Woods occasionally visits the Learning Lab to chat with students. (Courtesy of TGR Foundation)
Students are introduced to different subjects from forensic science to marine biology to biotechnology. High school students in particular have access to hands-on experience through paid internships, shadowing professionals, or helping to complete projects at real businesses.
The foundation also provides mentorship for students who are accepted into the Earl Woods Scholar Program (named after Mr. Woods’s father), with mentors committing at least two years to advising students on their journey to post-high school careers. Many maintain relationships with the students throughout their college years and beyond. Mrs. Court shared that one of the program mentors recently attended the wedding of her mentee—whom she met 17 years ago in the foundation’s first cohort of scholars.
American Essence spoke with Mrs. Court and Mr. Woods about the meaning of their mission.
Tiger Woods Foundation CEO Cynthia Court with an alumnus of the foundation’s program, Natan Santos. (Courtesy of TGR Foundation)
American Essence: Could you share with us a touching example of a youth who found success after participating in a TGR Foundation program?
Cynthia Court: One of the many students who has touched our hearts over the years is Sammy Mohammed. Sammy is the oldest child of an immigrant family and always dreamed of becoming a first-generation college student. Growing up in an under-resourced community in Anaheim, California, he began his journey at our TGR Learning Lab in fifth grade to participate in a week-long STEM field trip focused on marine biology. Motivated, Sammy returned for additional STEM classes through high school where he discovered a passion for computer science and engineering. Sammy was accepted into the Earl Woods Scholar Program in 11th grade and gained Tiger as a mentor. Since graduating from Stanford University, Sammy has begun his engineering career (at Google!) and is currently pursuing a master’s degree at his alma mater. He has not only achieved his personal goals, but he also inspired his younger siblings to enrich their education through TGR Learning Lab programs.
The foundation’s Learning Lab is based in Anaheim, Calif. (Courtesy of TGR Foundation)
AE: How can more youth from under-resourced communities receive access to education and be encouraged to take advantage of programs like those provided by TGR Foundation?
Mrs. Court: Forming strong relationships with the communities we serve, local school systems, educators, and other community-based organizations has allowed TGR Foundation to serve thousands of youth through our educational programs and enrichment activities each year. We have also extended our reach by providing professional learning to teachers across the country.
Additionally, TGR Foundation is in the process of expanding our physical footprint. We are opening new TGR Learning Labs in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Los Angeles, California, in 2025 and 2026, respectively. The new locations will allow us to provide significantly more youth with educational programs tailored to their specific needs. For example, only 6 percent of the students enrolled at the 42 Philadelphian public schools located within a 3-mile radius of our forthcoming TGR Learning Lab achieved proficiency in math on state assessments. We are already offering math tutoring at local schools to start addressing the need for educational enrichment.
Elementary school students learn about forensic science by solving a simulated jewelry heist. (Courtesy of TGR Foundation)
AE: What is the greatest challenge TGR Foundation faces heading into 2024? What direction does TGR Foundation wish to take going forward to achieve greater success for the next 25 years?
Mrs. Court: The footprint of TGR Foundation will have tripled in size once the TGR Learning Labs in Philadelphia and Los Angeles open. Executing this expansion will be a significant challenge for the organization, but an important first step towards serving significantly more youth from under-resourced communities. This is a pivotal moment for TGR Foundation, and I am excited to help actualize our vision: a world where opportunity is universal and potential is limitless.
AE: What is it like to work with Mr. Woods? Any examples of a shining moment so far?
Mrs. Court: I recently spent an entire morning with Tiger on a practice green strategizing about a sustainable growth strategy for the organization. After a considerable amount of time discussing strategic direction, Tiger took a moment to stress that the most important thing to him was the quality of our educational programming and the impact we are having on each individual life. He is deeply committed to helping students pursue their passions through education.
I also witnessed some terrific chip shots that morning.
Children get to explore STEM subjects at the Learning Lab. (Courtesy of TGR Foundation)
AE: Mr. Woods, of all your incredible successes, which milestone (personally and professionally) are you the proudest of, or do you feel is the best accomplishment thus far?
Tiger Woods: The legacy we’re building at TGR Foundation is going to outlive me, and it’s one that’s bigger than what I’ve done on the golf course.
AE: How has your vision for TGR Foundation impacted youth since its inception?
Mr. Woods: When I was a kid, my parents instilled a simple principle in my life: Try to make an impact in one person’s life, every day. At TGR Foundation, we are doing just that, making a meaningful impact on the lives of youth one day at a time. We believe that everyone can be a champion.
After a lifetime in southern California’s eternal sunshine, Danica McKellar made the move to rural Tennessee last year. It appears she’s taken a page right out of her Hallmark and Great American Family movies, which often take place in a small town filled with kindhearted people and blessed by seasonal beauty.
Since her move, the actress and producer has indeed been marveling at “the most amazingBob Ross painting at every turn,” she said.
Ms. McKellar is widely known for playing the character of Winnie Cooper in “The Wonder Years.” The comedy-drama, which ran from 1988 to 1993, followed the highs and lows of young Kevin Arnold (played by Fred Savage). Set in suburban, middle-class America in the late ’60s and early ’70s, the series, and the messy and complex affairs of the heart it depicted, kept viewers coming back episode after episode. For many, their coming of age happened alongside the protagonists’—including McKellar’s character.
Etched onto the public consciousness, she became the epitome of the sweetness of first love. Late-night show host Jimmy Fallon once referred to Winnie Cooper as “the coolest girl in any TV show ever.”
An adult Kevin Arnold narrated:
Once upon a time there was a girl I knew, who lived across the street. Brown hair, brown eyes. When she smiled, I smiled. When she cried, I cried. Every single thing that happened to me that mattered, in some way, had to do with her. That day Winnie and I promised each other that no matter what, we’d always be together. … It was the kind of promise that can only come from the hearts of the very young.”
This Christmas season, Damon Runyon and Ms. McKellar star in “A Royal Christmas Romance” on the Great American Family cable network. (Rachel Luna/Stringer/Getty Images)
Math Whiz
On-screen Winnie Cooper was smart and sweet, and because Ms. McKellar knew that young people were looking up to her character, she felt the need to live up to being a role model.
She went on to graduate summa cum laude from UCLA with a major in mathematics, with the distinction of co-authoring a mathematical physics theorem called the Chayes-McKellar-Winn Theorem.
In 2000, she testified before a congressional subcommittee about the importance of women in math and science. When she read that young girls’ interest and confidence in math eroded significantly by the eighth grade, even though they performed as well as boys, she reflected on her own self-doubts while in college:
No one ever told me I couldn’t do math or science; I just saw it as inaccessible and foreign. The strange thing is, at the same time that I harbored all of these self-doubts and feelings of alienation in regards to math, I was graduating high school with really good grades in math. True, I had struggled in middle school to even get a ‘C’ in math, but now I was in the top 3 percent of my high school, graduating with honors and an A+ in the highest AP Calculus course offered in the U.S.
She went on to write 11 math books for kids spanning ages 0 to 16. She knew that she had to change the stereotype about math and make it not only accessible but also cool, initially targeting girls at the middle school stage, a time when math gets harder and new social factors also come into play. Because of this, her bestselling books incorporate confidence-boosting messages.
Tebow is also passionate about faith-based content for children and has invested in different media projects. (Tim Tebow Foundation)
For Tim Tebow, “MVP” has a whole different meaning. Far from the limelight of the sports field, the 36-year-old Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL quarterback has long set his sights on helping the world’s “Most Vulnerable People.” The Tim Tebow Foundation, founded in 2010, works in 86 countries to transform the lives of orphans, people with special needs or significant medical needs, and those caught in the snare of human traffickers.
His favorite night of the year, Night to Shine, celebrates people with special needs, offering them a prom night experience, and takes place simultaneously around the world—in over 1,000 cities and 56 countries. (Next year, it will be held on February 9, 2024.)
The timing, the Friday before Valentine’s Day, is no accident.
“We wanted this to be a night where every person with special needs ‘Shines,’ and we wanted our love and God’s love for them to shine through,” Tebow said.
American Essence had the chance to ask Tebow about Night to Shine, what drives him in life, and the best advice he’s ever been given.
Tebow is also passionate about faith-based content for children and has invested in different media projects. (Hannah Janoe)
American Essence: Please tell us about an inspiring moment or person at Night to Shine that will stay with you forever.
Tim Tebow: I could tell you thousands and thousands of stories just from our first Night to Shine! One that really stands out to me is a mom coming up to me and telling me that her daughter will never get married. She will never have kids. But tonight, at Night to Shine, she felt like she was a princess. Another is the first time we ever hosted a Night to Shine, one sweet girl came down the red carpet in a wheelchair with everyone cheering her on. She had so much fun and loved the experience so much that she came back down again, this time walking with assistance! It was such an inspiring moment.
Another impactful moment was when I got to meet an incredible young boy at a Night to Shine in Haiti. Frantzky had the biggest, sweetest smile, and he danced with so many friends and family that night. Unfortunately, not long after that, he got very sick. Hospitals in Haiti had turned him away before due to him having special needs or simply perceiving him as too complicated to care for. At the third hospital he ended up at, he did not receive the level of care he needed and unfortunately passed away. It was such a shocking reality that it’s our job to love people no matter their circumstances, and that it’s up to us to help other people see the God-given worth and value of every life. I have a painting of Frantzky in a room in my house where I watch movies and football games. That room is somewhat of a break where I can relax for a moment or get caught up in sports, but Frantzky’s picture is displayed as you exit the room as an instant reminder to keep the perspective that there is so much more significance in life than just games and movies.
AE: How has the idea of prom—a quintessentially American tradition—translated to the many different countries where Night to Shine is held?
Mr. Tebow: That’s a great question. One of the ways we’ve described Night to Shine is as a worldwide prom for people with special needs. A lot of countries aren’t familiar with the term “prom,” so we also call it a worldwide celebration for people with special needs. Even though other countries might not be familiar with the idea of a prom, walking down a red carpet, or being crowned as kings and queens, what’s really cool is that once they see it in action, they totally get it—regardless of where they are. A lot of that has to do with our awesome Night to Shine team that walks alongside churches every step of the way. It’s also really neat to see different countries and cultures embrace Night to Shine by bringing in traditions and experiences that are culturally relevant to them, too.
(Tim Tebow Foundation)
AE: You have a great sense of urgency about the causes that your foundation supports. What drives you in life? What gets you up in the morning, ready to take on the world?
Mr. Tebow:I love using the word urgency. I want to be someone that lives with a sense of urgency because we don’t know how many days we have. But, while we have time on this Earth, it’s our only chance to affect eternity. For that reason, we need to be truly focused on what really matters, and that’s God and impacting people. I want to live with a sense of urgency by running hard toward what God is calling me to do because who knows when I’ll lose the chance to? That’s what gets me up every morning.
AE: You and your wife Demi partner on many endeavors. Please tell us what it’s like to work with your spouse, and what you value most about her.
Mr. Tebow: One of the most special things about Demi and I’s relationship is that we get to travel all over the world and serve together. It’s amazing to see her love on survivors of human trafficking, love on babies that have been thrown away, and fight with such fierceness for some of the world’s most vulnerable people. As I’m answering these questions right now, she’s getting ready to launch her Tim Tebow Foundation birthday campaign, which will directly impact children and families in her home country of South Africa, specifically babies that have been abandoned because their parents don’t have the means or resources to care for them. Something else I really value about Demi is her drive and competitiveness. She was Miss Universe 2017, she’s an entrepreneur, a motivational speaker—all of that amazes me about her, but it’s not nearly as special as watching her heart for others in action.
Tebow and his wife, Demi-Leigh, work together closely on the foundation’s charity work. (John Hillin Photo)
AE: Considering the intense fame that you have experienced, how have you overcome any struggles that have come with the scrutiny, and how do you think that experience has served you in your life?
Mr. Tebow: Growing up, I was definitely a people pleaser and wanted people to like me. When I started playing sports and getting recognized by the public and the media, of course there were people who didn’t like me. I struggled with that at first, and I remember telling my dad, “Dad, if people just got to know me, I think they would like me!” And I remember him telling me, “Timmy, you’re right. But some people aren’t going to want to get to know you or like you.” That was a harsh reality to make terms with, but he was right. To this day, whenever I face scrutiny, I reflect on a quote from Winston Churchill that says, “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” I’ve come to realize that I’d rather be respected than liked. And I think that’s a good lesson for other young people to remember as they go through life, too. You can get a lot of “likes” on social media, but being respected by people—even if they aren’t your biggest fan—means so much more.
AE: What life advice do you have for young people who may be reading this?
Mr. Tebow: My advice for young people reading this is to really believe that God loves you, to really believe that what He did on the cross counted for you, and to really believe that He has a plan and purpose for your life. Because when you believe all of that, you’re going to know that every day is created by God on purpose for a purpose. And when you live that way, not just taking in life as happenstance, but actually believing that this is the day the Lord has made for you, you’ll begin to see life and yourself a whole lot differently.
“Night to Shine,” Tebow’s annual prom event for children with special needs, is held in over 1,000 cities in 56 countries. (Tim Tebow Foundation)
AE: Many of our readers have children or grandchildren who are homeschooled. What was that experience like for you?
Mr. Tebow: I really enjoyed being homeschooled, and it felt right for our family situation as my parents were missionaries and we were transitioning between the Philippines and the United States. I am the baby of five children, so my siblings and I were so fortunate to have flexibility and opportunities to serve on the mission field, learning what our parents believed in and watching them serve firsthand during our homeschooling days. Our parents of course wanted us to learn to read and write, but more importantly, they wanted to instill in me and my siblings a love for God and one another and a strong work ethic.
Our school days started with chores on our parents’ farm before Bible study, and then we’d get into school and study sessions. What was cool about being homeschooled was that my parents gave me the freedom to choose topics I was naturally interested in when working on school projects. I would write papers about Jackie Robinson or Jesse Owens. One time, I did a science project about protein shakes, trying to get my parents to let me drink them because I’ve always been passionate about health and fitness. There were times—being homeschooled—when I felt a little different and maybe even a little lonely, but I came to realize that you can be homeschooled and be unique and different, but in a good way! I also still got to play sports during that time, and that was such a fun experience.
AE: What’s the best advice anyone has ever given you?
Mr. Tebow: To know the person of God, to trust the plan of God, and to say yes to the purpose of God.
AE: What do you consider your proudest achievement off the field to be?
Mr. Tebow: I don’t know if I would consider it an achievement, but I do consider it a blessing that the Tim Tebow Foundation gets to serve some of the world’s most vulnerable people in 86 countries and counting. From orphans that have been thrown away to survivors of human trafficking, we love those that we serve so much and, almost on a daily basis, I’m inspired by another boy or girl that we’re fortunate to serve. They are such a driving force for me.
(Tim Tebow Foundation)
AE: What project are you most excited about (philanthropic, entrepreneurial, or both)?
Mr. Tebow: I love all of the partners that I’m so fortunate to work with. There’s so much in the world calling for this next generation’s attention, so I am really excited to be a small part of some projects that are telling God-sized stories and providing educational entertainment that is safe for kids. I’m so grateful to be an executive producer for “The David Movie,” an animated film about the inspiring story of King David. The creators are incredibly talented, and they’re striving to tell the story with authenticity (like “The Prince of Egypt” but with animation quality like in “Tangled” and “Frozen”). “The David Movie” also recently became the largest crowdfunded entertainment project ever and is expected to be released in 2024! It’s so fun seeing the momentum build around a movie that could possibly impact generations to come.
I’m also excited to be an investor, board member, and brand ambassador for Minno, the number one source of Christian content for kids that gives parents resources they can trust that their kids will love. The platform has over 2,500 episodes and more than 125 shows, and it is growing! It’s a blessing to get to spend time trying to support families in this way so we can help teach the next generation about the love of Jesus.
Ultimately, I’m overwhelmed thinking about how God has allowed our foundation to reach people in 86 countries now, and I’m most excited about seeing how we can work to bring faith, hope and love to the next 86.
AE: Since this is American Essence magazine, we would love to ask: What do you love and value most about America?
Mr. Tebow: “One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Firefighters-in-training, or "probies," Kelli Maher (L) and Kiara Santos, of the South Hempstead Fire Department in Long Island, N.Y. (Dave Paone)
Ray Preziosi is a cinematographer in the motion picture industry. But when a house is on fire in his town of Rosendale, New York, he exchanges his light meter for a firehose. Preziosi is a volunteer firefighter.
Bill Malone is an administrator and adjunct science and math professor at St. John’s University in Queens, New York. But when one of his neighbors in the Long Island village of Malverne, New York, is having a heart attack, he swaps his calculator for a defibrillator. Malone is a volunteer emergency medical technician (EMT).
In both cases, the operative word is “volunteer.”
While big cities have full-time, career first responders who are paid with tax dollars, most suburban and rural communities rely completely on unpaid personnel for both fire and ambulance services. According to the National Fire Protection Association, 67 percent of first responders in the United States are volunteers.
Preziosi has been one for 46 years. Even as a child, he gravitated toward fire service. He tricked out his bicycle by attaching a shampoo bottle to act as a fire extinguisher and a garden hose to act as a fire hose. When his father dropped a cigarette butt on the ground, Preziosi would “respond” to the “fire” by hopping on his bike in the garage, rushing to the spigot, connecting the hose, and putting out the cigarette butt.
Preziosi joined the North Massapequa Fire Department on Long Island at age 22 and served for 22 years, until he relocated to Southern California in 1997. During his four years there, there was no volunteer department for him to join. Preziosi recalled watching the fire department in Arcadia, California, screeching through an intersection, doing what he’s done countless times. “I practically burst into tears,” he said.
Malone is in his 45th year of volunteer service. While most departments combine fire and ambulance, Malverne has two separate units. He decided to join the ambulance corps at age 18, in 1976. He was inspired to join (in part) because “Emergency!,” a popular television series at the time, glorified first responders.
45-year-veteran-volunteer Bill Malone. (Dave Paone)
Volunteer fire departments on Long Island have been around for 100 years. Almost the entire time, they’ve been one big boys’ club. That’s changing. Kelli Maher and Kiara Santos, both college students, recently joined the one in South Hempstead, New York. Maher is a full-fledged EMT and a firefighter-in-training, called a “probie.” A short time ago, female volunteer firefighters on Long Island didn’t exist.
Santos and Maher have known each other since they were toddlers. Both their fathers are firefighters, and they played with the other children of volunteers at department picnics and Christmas parties when they were little.
For Santos, who’s also an EMT and a firefighter probie, volunteering is a true family affair. She’s the third generation to do so, as her grandfather was a member of the Valley Stream, New York, Fire Department, and her brother is a member of the South Hempstead one as well. It’s pretty much the same thing for Maher. Her younger brother joined South Hempstead this summer, her father is a life member and fire commissioner of the district, and she’s dating the department’s lieutenant.
The recurring theme among young volunteers is that their fathers set an example. “Ever since I was little, my dad’s always instilled in me and my brothers—and even friends that we brought around—always do the right thing, to help people, see-something-do-something type stuff, and I just thought the fire department was a great example of that,” said Maher.
Every volunteer understands that service is a solid commitment. That means if they sit down for Thanksgiving dinner, and a call comes in, they have to drop what they’re doing and go. They understand this, as do their spouses. Only once in Malone’s 40 years of marriage did he receive a call while being intimate with his wife.
As a first responder, there’s the emotional toll of the job. Malone uses a defense mechanism to distance himself from the pain and suffering that’s literally in his hands.
“I kind of look at them as they’re patients, they’re a task at hand, that I have to take care of, and then I move on from there,” he said. “As cold and heartless as that sounds, that’s the way you have to do it.” Malone said there were times “I came home and I cried myself to sleep,” but that number is very small. (As of July 11, Malone has been on 7,479 calls since his first day.)
Then there’s the physical toll. Malone has had seven herniated discs over the years from lifting (often overweight) patients onto stretchers.
Sometimes, volunteer service leads to a paid career. Chad Ayotte volunteered as a firefighter in Palm Desert, California, at age 18. He was about to graduate high school and knew college wasn’t for him. He was raised by his single mom, and not having a father led him to be a wild child.
Ayotte describes his captain at the time as “militaristic, […] demand[ing] a lot out of his volunteers”—which was precisely the discipline Ayotte needed in order to return to the straight and narrow. He volunteered for four years. He knew this was the job for him and is currently in his ninth year of service as a paid employee. At the time, the Palm Desert fire department had the rare combination of both volunteer and paid members, so he made the transition within the same department.
The number of volunteers in the country is dwindling. For decades, Malverne had EMTs on call 24-seven. Malone said that when he started in 1976, there were 60 or 70 active volunteers. He said now, that number is eight or nine, so when there’s no one available to respond, the village relies on a nearby medical center. At this rate, the number will fall to zero, at least in Malverne.
“That time, I think, is kind of fast approaching,” said Malone with a sigh. Americans can take comfort in knowing that there are hundreds of thousands of volunteers who will respond in their time of need.
At least for now.
Dave Paone is a Long Island-based reporter and photographer who has won journalism awards for articles, photographs, and headlines. When he’s not writing and photographing, he’s catering to every demand of his cat, Gigi.
Spreading friendship and love. (Courtesy of the Stowes)
Tea has always been a part of the Stowe family. What initially started as a traveling tearoom in 2011, bringing tea and baked goods to families all over Middle Tennessee and parts of Alabama, has transformed into what is now a physical tearoom on a 68-acre farm in Campbellsville, Tennessee. Three Sisters Tearoom is run by Jennifer Stowe and her three daughters, Julia, Andrea, and Meredith.
The Stowes would drive in the family car and set up base at various sites, including local senior centers, nursing homes, and libraries, to bring tea and cookies to local communities. The family would organize discussions about the history of tea, teach patrons about the different kinds of tea, and offer tea tastings.
The girls enjoying a cup of tea outside their Airstream camper trailer in 2011. (Courtesy of the Stowes)
Three Sisters Tearoom
After the family’s barn burned down in 2014, they had the idea of rebuilding and transforming the place into a physical tearoom. “We just thought maybe we didn’t need to travel so much bringing tea to people—we could have them come to us,” said Jennifer, mother to the three girls. Despite sitting on a large farm, the tearoom itself is tiny, with maximum indoor seating accommodating up to 20 guests at any one time. Weather permitting, there are an additional eight seats outdoors. “Six years on, that little tearoom has been home to all of our events and gave our traveling tearoom a home,” said Julia.
The three sisters: Andrea, Julia, and Meredith. (Courtesy of the Stowes)
All three sisters have a role in the tearoom, from greeting guests, to baking the numerous sweet treats on offer, to washing dishes after a long day of entertaining guests. “Meredith was only six when the tearoom first opened. She was our greeter and just hugged everybody! And a lot of our clients are seniors, some of them widowed, so it meant a lot to them, getting a hug from a little girl,” Jennifer told me.
Jennifer’s second daughter, Andrea, is responsible for the analytical and organizational aspects of the family business, like filling out the spreadsheets, scheduling, sending newsletters, and other administrative duties. Julia oversees the baking. “She has mastered the scones. We have our signature lavender white chocolate scones, which she makes so well with lemon curd,” said Andrea. The youngest sister, Meredith, still greets all the clients, even at the age of 13. She also irons all the tablecloths.
Julia’s famous lavender white chocolate scones. (Courtesy of the Stowes)
Operating a family business has its advantages. Jennifer said if she didn’t have the chance to run the tearoom with her daughters, she probably wouldn’t run one at all. “For me, it’s really the best situation. I get to do something that I love, express creativity, extend hospitality, and work with my most favorite people in the world.” The tearoom simply serves as an extension of the Stowe family home, and this translates into the domestic comfort and warmth it provides to its patrons.
The most important part of running a tearoom is building a community, Julia told me. “It’s very much a place to build friendships, and seeing people through the years who were strangers now become very dear friends, both with us and each other, is a treasured aspect of having a tearoom.”
A Place of Deep Friendship and Community
The tearoom served an important role to the local community after the pandemic lockdown restrictions were lifted. “Mom brought a lot of joy into their lives,” said Meredith. “It was just a time for them to come and enjoy peace, and spend time with people after being home for so long.”
Jennifer explained that a lot of women who visit her tearoom have suffered many heartbreaks and tragedies, whether that be losing their husbands, jobs, or other family members. However, the tearoom offers them much-needed solace and friendship.
One of the most touching aspects is the uniting of patrons, regardless of age or experience. “When you see a senior and young adult who just find similar passions and can converse about it, that, to me, is just amazing,” said Meredith.
Three Sisters Tearoom patrons share many smiles around the tea table. (Courtesy of the Stowes)
The tearoom also offers events, one of their popular ones being their Afternoon Tea Flight, which involves learning about a different country each month. “We enjoy tea the way they would have it, and we eat their food,” said Jennifer. The owners provide a small presentation on the origin of the tea, along with cultural aspects like music, food, and even the use of incense. The tea flight starts from China, continuing all the way through Europe, and eventually landing in the United States. Each attendee receives a little passport and gets a stamp for every Tea Flight attended. Jennifer said it offers customers the opportunity to experience different cultures, something they may never have gotten the chance to encounter coming from a small town.
They have even featured yak butter tea, a popular beverage in the Himalayas of Central Asia, particularly in Tibet. This drink was traditionally drunk by the Tibetan people of the North to provide energy and to keep warm in the harsh winters.
Literary tea events are another community favorite, where, according to their website, ladies of all ages are invited to join book discussions over delicious cream teas. The event features a perfectly curated, themed menu that reflects the essence of the book.
Fresh Produce Straight From the Farm
Three Sisters Tearoom uses locally produced ingredients in all the items on its menu, including eggs, greens, tomatoes, corn, potatoes, rhubarb, peppers, and even fruit. The family grows just about everything on its 68-acre farm.
Andrea tending to her tomato plants on the family farm. (Courtesy of the Stowes)
The family also owns many animals, including chickens (for meat and eggs), ducks, and a small herd of Highland cattle (for milk and meat), as well as a few dogs and cats.
The tearoom is sometimes closed for a week or two during the height of summer, when the garden is bursting with fresh produce. This allows the family to finish canning and processing the food and to get ready to open again the following week.
Looking to the Future
Over the years, the Stowes have brought much joy to the lives of everyone they have encountered. They grew from a simple traveling tearoom to building a beautiful paradise for the local community to visit and relax in. But their journey doesn’t end here. The family has plenty of exciting plans for the future, from organizing tea talks on the road to taking their love for tea into classrooms, libraries, and historic homes in the form of educational classes and lectures.
Jennifer has also written many titles and tea-themed books, like “Book of Days: An Artful Guide to Life-Long Learning,” “Afternoon Tea: Rhymes for Children,” “Infused: Tea Time in Fine Art,” and “Wee Bites and Nibbles: Manners and Menus for the Tiniest Tea Drinkers.” Her daughter, Julia, is a graphic designer and frequently aids in the artistic production of the books.
The family’s old barn was repurposed into a tearoom. (Courtesy of the Stowes)
Other short-term plans involve planting more perennials to liven up the grounds, building a courtyard garden, and building an outdoor room where they can serve tea and host more people.
Outside of the tearoom, the girls share their admiration for tea with their friends in college and while traveling. “It draws people and builds relationships, even outside of the tearoom business,” commented Andrea.
“Our tearoom is certainly very dear to my heart,” said Julia. “And whatever different paths it may take in the future, it will still be part of our lives in some way.”
Children play outside their house in Colonia de Carton in Piedras Negras, Mexico, on July 8, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
Sky Cross is a nonprofit, strictly volunteer-led charity organization that operates along the Texas–Mexico border. Its mission is to provide food, clothing, medicine, and first-aid supplies to impoverished children, families, and orphanages. The organization works closely with missionaries of various denominations who offer education to the poor, primarily in Mexico, in substandard villages called colonias, which lack basic living conditions such as running water, sewers, and electricity.
The organization was founded in 1995 by retired U.S. Air Force Col. Terry Bliquez and his wife, Kathy. David Young serves as the current president, having been a board member and mission pilot since 1998. Before that, Young worked for the Civil Air Patrol (part of the U.S. Air Force), another nonprofit organization, which performs search-and-rescue missions.
When Bliquez first discussed Sky Cross’s mission with Young, it sparked a keen interest. Young would often accompany Bliquez on aid missions to the U.S.–Mexico border to deliver clothing, medicine, and nonperishable food to the needy. Together, they flew multiple times to migrant centers and orphanages, such as those in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico, and Matamoros, which is across the river from Brownsville, Texas.
Young said Sky Cross used to dispense secondhand clothing as well, but those deliveries have slowed down exponentially due to the pandemic. The organization has, however, distributed about 15,000 masks and more than 600 gallons of hand sanitizer across the migrant communities it serves.
The Importance of Helping the Needy
David Young, president of Sky Cross, unloads boxes of masks from his aircraft in Eagle Pass, Texas, on July 8, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
“The primary purpose of Sky Cross is to help provide food for the needy people, the poor on the other side of the border—they’re very, very poor. Many of them come up to the border hoping to be able to come across, and they end up being in the colonias on the border, such as the one in Matamoros,” Young said.
Years ago, people in colonias such as Matamoros would dig holes in the ground, scavenge coverings for the holes, and live in the burrows. Young remembers “being over there one time and looking at what they had on a grill that they were cooking outside—it was fish heads that they had scrounged for,” he said. “I was amazed that people could even survive with that type of food.”
Sky Cross delivers nonperishable food in the form of beans, rice, cornflour, noodles, and more. “I feel like God has placed in my heart a love for the poor and for their plight,” Young said, after being asked why the mission at Sky Cross resonated with him so deeply. “It’s such a blessing to me personally to go out and be amongst these people and, with my resources, be able to help them live a better life.”
Young said that when he was growing up, his parents instilled in him a deep desire to dedicate time and effort to helping those in need. “My dad was a homebuilder, and he would donate his time to work around the church. He had me help paint the back end of a church building one time—it demanded stacking scaffolding because it was so tall. He and I donated our time and efforts to that when I was just a 14- or 15-year-old boy. My father enjoyed giving himself to the community, and that carried over to me.”
Making a Difference in the Lives of the Poor
Children play outside their home in Colonia de Carton in Piedras Negras, Mexico, on July 8, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
Through donations, Sky Cross also helped the Matamoros colonia develop to a point when residents could build a school. To support efforts like this, the Mexican government will provide water and electricity once a school is built, in turn helping the colonia become a sustainable community.
Many children in poverty-stricken communities such as Matamoros suffer from malnutrition. According to Young, children’s hair will often show signs of this. “Normally it would be black, but they would have red streaks in their hair, which was showing that they were not getting good nutrition. With time, those red streaks went away,” he said. “It’s a blessing to be able to do that and witness that as time goes on.” For Young, results like these are important, highlighting the difference Sky Cross makes in the lives of needy children.
Young said that his time at the organization is completely voluntary. Nobody who works there is a paid staff member, and 100 percent of the donations go straight to helping the poor. Young’s personal assets, including airplanes, fuel, and other equipment, are also put to charitable use for the organization, transporting volunteers to the border.
Aside from filling his role as president at Sky Cross, Young serves as a board member for a school in northwestern Peru that has 200 students. Together with his wife and family, he also helps more than a dozen children at any given time along the Texas–Mexico border. The Youngs provide money each month to keep those children in school rather than out scavenging the dangerous fields in search of food and money.
“We sent a couple on to the university; one of them became a dentist and came back. They are now practicing within one of the colonias there in Mexico,” Young said.
Sky Cross helps upwards of 30,000 people each year. It has supported six orphanages and helped build clinics in several Mexican colonias along the Texas border, providing quick access to medical care for families in need. “We’ve built a school in Nuevo Progreso where they would train the women to sew and work on computers. We have seen the results of that, to where the people will get out of the cycle of poverty and actually begin to have the skills to go out and earn a living,” Young said.
Physically Poor but Spiritually Rich
Through his time volunteering for Sky Cross, Young has learned many important life lessons—especially about how the needy can find happiness in the midst of their poverty. “The children are especially amazing to me. They can take a simple ball and have fun with that and laugh and enjoy life because they don’t want anything else. And what spoke to me is that some of the things we take for granted in our own society are more precious to them,” Young said.
“What I have learned in doing what I do is that the poor will find joy, and have more faith in their poverty than a lot of people that have all the things they would want in life. We in America need to understand that even the poorest of us are probably richer than 95 percent of the world. We place too much emphasis on the material things in life and not enough on the spiritual.”
Wrongly convicted and incarcerated at the age of 14, John Bunn has endured many struggles from a young age. Born and raised in Brownsville, New York City, to a single mother of three, Bunn had to learn to fend for himself without much guidance. Having lost his father before he was born, he spent the majority of his teenage life without the support of any male figures.
“In the environment I grew up in, the males would come around to exploit, not to come around with love and affection,” he said.
‘I Grew Up in Prison’
Bunn was forced to spend 17 years of his life behind bars, in an environment devoid of sympathy.
“It was predator-prey. If they [prisoners] felt you got a weakness, they took advantage of you,” he said.
He spent a further 10 years on parole, fighting for his innocence.
Before he was arrested and taken into prison, Bunn struggled with illiteracy; which only escalated while he was incarcerated.
“When they had me on trial, they told me to write down any questions I had. I couldn’t write down anything. I didn’t know how to express myself. That was the most trapped and embarrassing feeling you can ever imagine,” he said, breaking into a sob.
With the help of teachers, he finally learned how to read and write by the age of 16. It changed the course of his life.
“It made me stronger. It made me feel like I could fight for my life,” he said. Learning how to read and write is what drove Bunn to later go on to become a facilitator of an anger management program while in prison. From there, he met many other young men struggling with the challenges of illiteracy. “And I would talk to them about my illiteracy issues. And I told them that this was not something to be ashamed of,” he said.
The Unheard
Today, Bunn is the founder of AVoice4TheUnheard.org and helps bring positivity into communities, schools, houses, and prisons of New York City.
Meeting other young men struggling with illiteracy was the driving point that led him to found his literacy program after being exonerated.
In 2017, it initially started as a book drive aimed at refurbishing the libraries at Rikers Island and providing under-resourced communities with educational literature, according to the program website.
Today, the program also offers roleplaying activities to at-risk youth where they’re tasked with group interactions. “We put individuals in real-life scenarios and give them the option to put themselves in other people’s shoes. We try to make them think before making decisions. This is what we call consequential thinking,” Bunn said.
Finding His Passion
The program began during Bunn’s nearly 12 years on parole.
“It [parole] put my life in a limbo state. I knew I was innocent. Everybody knew I was innocent. And that’s what I was fighting for,” he said. While still waiting for a final decision to be made on his conviction, Bunn channeled that restlessness into something positive.
“I needed to put my energy into something more progressive,” he said. “A voice for the unheard—I don’t even know when it became the whole phrase, but it always represented me and what I felt inside my spirit.”
After suffering many setbacks and losing out on the prime years of his life while stuck in prison, Bunn refocused his attention on helping others who may be at risk of getting ensnared in the prison system.
“Where I come from,” Bunn said, “we don’t have too many role models. So my message is, if you don’t have anybody to show you the way, you make your own way. Don’t let that be the reason to discourage you from going forward. And that’s what I stand for. And that’s what we stand for.”
John Bunn visiting a school in NYC. (Samira Bouaou)
Making Positivity Cool for Kids
Part of Bunn’s mission is passing his positivity on to others. “The greatest champions have to go through adversities for them to have the empathy to deal with the world from a different perspective,” Bunn said.
“Our main message is about making positivity cool,” he tells me about his organization. He said that in today’s world, children are vulnerable to absorbing harmful messages from the media they consume. A lot of music nowadays romanticizes being tough, drugs, skipping school, and gang culture. But “that’s not real life,” Bunn says. His organization advocates for changing this narrative so that kids begin associating positivity with coolness.
A Voice 4 the Unheard not only provides prisons and schools with an abundance of literature but also offers numerous resources and networking opportunities to young people and children from underprivileged backgrounds.
“There’s a lack of resources in these communities, and we want to open them up to other resources that they may not know we have available today,” Bunn said. One of the ways the organization is working to bring resources closer to disadvantaged students is by building a network with other nonprofits and educational groups.
George Garber, who works alongside Bunn as one of the core members of the organization, says, “We’re working on creating a student portal on our website where kids could go and connect with other local nonprofits to fulfill their passions, whether that would be music, poetry, art, or the environment.”
The team has many future projects in mind, such as building a kids’ center to provide students with a safe physical location to study and access certain educational materials that may not be readily available in their immediate communities.
“A safe place where they can feel like it’s cool to learn at,” Bunn said.
Laurie Dorr runs the Finally Home Senior Dog Rescue and Retirement Home in North Yarmouth, Maine. (Peter Falkenberg Brown)
Sally was a Dutch Shepherd dog who arrived at Laurie Dorr’s Finally Home Senior Dog Rescue and Retirement Home in North Yarmouth, Maine, in 2019. Her owner was moving and was unable to keep her. At age 14, Sally would have been destined to live in a cage at a shelter, but the owner found Laurie’s rescue service instead.
Laurie remembers sleeping on the living room couch, with Sally lying on a dog bed next to her, keeping her company for five days until the dog could readjust to her new home. “Sally cried all night because she was away from her owner,” Laurie said. “Sally slept on the floor, right there, and I slept on the couch. I had my arm on her for part of the night. She was very sad.”
Sally passed away a year later, but Laurie helped make her last year a happy one. Finally Home has eight dogs now, most of them between 11 and 14. There are labradors, coonhounds, a diminutive Jack Russel terrier, and even an Australian Shepherd.
Laurie Dorr was raised in Falmouth, Maine, and has had a passionate sympathy for elderly dogs since she was a child. Sometime around the age of 12, she decided that one day she would take care of dogs during the last years of their life—a time when too many of them are abandoned by their owners.
In 2019, she took the leap and started Finally Home from her spacious saltbox house in North Yarmouth. The dogs live in the house and roam freely, from floor to dog bed to couch and then to their fenced-in section of her yard. They even have their own above-ground swimming pool.
Laurie Dorr takes in elderly dogs and gives them a home. (Peter Falkenberg Brown)
Dorr is working hard to raise money to add a new room for the dogs to the house and increase her canine residents to a maximum of 12. She emphasized that she’s not running a typical shelter, where the animals stay in crates most of the time. Finally Home really is their home, and for that reason, she’s limiting the growth of the venture, even though she receives more than 50 requests per year to take in more dogs.
The money that Dorr raises goes entirely to the support of the dogs. She has established a 501(c)3, tax-exempt nonprofit and has gained the support of local banks and individuals. She takes no salary and supports herself as a professional proofreader, with added income from her husband Bob’s position at Bath Iron Works.
Taking care of elderly dogs is an expensive process. Between vet bills, medications, food, and accouterments, Finally Home’s budget is around $12,000 per year. After expanding to 12 dogs, Dorr calculates that expenditures will increase to $20,000 annually. The extra room for the dogs may come at a cost as high as $50,000 due to rising construction costs.
One of her goals is to raise enough money for Finally Home to give grants to owners of elderly dogs so that they can pay for each dog’s medical bills—and allow the owners to keep them. Many dog owners can’t afford the hefty vet bills incurred by older dogs at the end of their lives and are thus forced to take the pets to animal shelters.
In spite of the need for constant fundraising, Dorr is optimistic and intensely grateful for the opportunity to love a dozen old dogs who might otherwise be staring at the inside of a cage. She loves her dogs, and as I watched them greet me at the gate with tails wagging at the sight of the treats in my hand, I could tell that her brood of canines loves her too.
Peter Falkenberg Brown is a writer, author, and public speaker. One of his recent books is titled “Waking Up Dead and Confused Is a Terrible Thing: Stories of Love, Life, Death, and Redemption.” He hosts a video and podcast channel called “Love, Freedom, & the World” at his website PeterFalkenbergBrown.com.
When Professional Janitorial Services (PJS) Houston Operations Manager Jamie Flores learned an employee was struggling to fund her aging mother’s root canal and bridge due to a lack of dental insurance coverage, he immediately began to search for resources and landed on El Centro de Corazon (El Centro), which offers low or no cost urgent medical and dental care, ESL classes, and legal services.
“Everybody needs help and it’s okay to ask for help,” Flores said in an interview. “We want to continue to provide our employees with not only a good job that pays a fair wage but also with resources out there that they might not know about. The last I heard was that the mom did go to an appointment at El Centro de Corazon and is waiting to see the specialist.”
Co-founded by Brent Southwell, PJS Houston is a commercial janitorial company that maintains more than 300 accounts in about 40 million square feet of buildings with some 1,400 employees. Last year, PJS Houston donated $10,000 to the non profit, El Centro, which is located in East downtown Houston.
“It’s an organization that PJS not only supports financially but is also involved in their community outreach,” Flores said. “Occasionally, they need a tent, water, or oscillating fans and we can provide that to make sure their events are more successful for them.”
The next El Centro event is a food drive in September for families in need who have kids returning to school.
“We put out ads or we advertise about the event weeks before and place collection booths and containers throughout the city,” Flores said. “We like to partner up with buildings that we clean for and get permission from the property manager to set up not only collection boxes but also the signage. That makes it easier for us to know where the donation stations are, to go pick them up and deliver to Centro de Corazon.”
El Centro is just one charity that PJS Houston is committed to supporting.
Prior to the pandemic, the Houston Area Women’s Center on Waugh Drive, which caters to battered and abused women, hosted a toy drive that PJS Houston assisted with. Although the event was cancelled last year due to COVID-19, the toy drive will resume in October, according to Flores.
“In 2019, we had so much participation internally from our employees who donated toys that we didn’t have to go out and put collection boxes up,” he said.
Last year, Flores was one of 10 PJS Houston employees who participated in the Virtual Lemon Climb, which raised $6,000 for Alex’s Lemonade Stand, a financial hub for parents whose children have cancer to assist in securing expense money while they undergo treatment.
“Our involvement in these various organizations stems from us wanting to partner with our employees and not necessarily with a particular organization or cause but just our employees,” Flores said. “When we talk to our employees and learn about their situation, both socially and economically, they often reference their go-to organizations and we try to support those organizations.”
PJS Houston was connected with Alex’s Lemonade Stand through a janitorial customer whose 4-year-old cousin died of cancer lymphoma, “This client actually is a founding member for the Houston chapter of Alex’s Lemonade Stand,” Flores added. “It’s unfortunate that organizations like Alex’s Lemonade Stand exist but it’s also a great thing because it gives people relief in an already stressful situation.”
Juliette Fairley has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, TheStreet, Time magazine, the Chicago City Wire, the Austin-American Statesman, and many other publications across the country.
