My Hero!

In my former life prior to moving to The Land of Palm Trees and adopting "easy livin'" as my mantra I did a ton of volunteering for a variety of civic causes. During my tenure as the area United Way Campaign Chair I was being introduced to some local Rotarians and the person doing the introductions provided me with what I considered the ultimate compliment when he said, "if there is anything positive happening within the community, this man is usually involved with it in some way." Whether it was deserved or not, I was very flattered with the introduction and I have carried that statement with me and since then I have met several people who are representative of those comments. You know them as well, there are people who just can't help but work and give of themselves to make the world a better place to live. We admire that type of person and we appreciate them for their efforts. My oldest son, J.D., by virtue of his service and leadership to his school and fraternity at The University of South Carolina exemplifies these qualities. Whether he is distributing bibles throughout the Greek System, thereby witnessing his faith to his fraternity and sorority brothers and sisters, or by being nominated for the USC Hero Award for his actions to assist some fellow students who were in a dangerous situation late one night on a downtown Columbia street. To know J.D. is to understand and admire his maturity, character and intelligence.

This past week, J.D. called me to tell me about his latest act of philanthropy and to ask me to assist him by getting the word out to my blog followers and friends. J.D. is currently coordinating a joint effort featuring the Brothers of Sigma Chi and the Alpha Delta Pi Sorority to organize and raise money to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Walk to Cure Diabetes. They have established a $5,000.00 fund-raising goal. The walk will take place in Columbia on October 30, 2011 at 1:30 PM. As many as 3 million Americans may have Type 1 Diabetes a disease most commonly diagnosed in childhood that strikes suddenly, lasts a lifetime with the constant threat of deadly complications. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's mission is constant: to find a cure for diabetes and it's complications through the support of research.

Please consider making a donation to J.D.'s efforts to help the JDRF. Click on this link for his personal fundraising page and the details on how you can help. Thank you in advance for considering my plea. And thanks to my hero, my son, J.D. for making a difference in the world.