| Community Life The family is the core of our society. When our laws and culture break families apart, we have serious problems. It's been a life goal for me to be there for my family and my community. I signed my kids up in soccer and volunteered to be a coach. Little did I know, that I would be serving the community 6 years after my kids were totally out of the program. I have served on the Soccer Board for over 10 years, drafting policies, rules, and implementing them for the good of the program. As in government, soccer board members are voted into office by the public. I conceptualized and implemented a 1 day tournament which is still active 8 years later and now implemented by surrounding communities.. I co-developed a youth referee development program which has served organization for years and other municipalities have copied. I believe that soccer benefits kids by teaching them team work, and giving them rewards for hard work. It also gets them in shape. I think this might qualify as “political experience”: solving problems of a big organization through policy and technology, working with others to motivate ideas and get buy-in. Then the reward comes; seeing the ideas being implemented and appreciated, both by the local clubs and by other clubs in the state which had similar issues to solve. Spiritual Life I am a religious and spiritual person, both in my college days and my adult life. I am a regular church-goer and have been a member of the “ St. Scholastica Art & Environment” group for 22 years, building art work and helping others with their projects. I have also helped with the youth group in our church. Recently, at the age of 49, I had quadruple bypass surgery, I am very fortunate to be alive! I never really paid attention to sick people as sickness was such a foreign thing. When Father Gavin Quinn told me, before surgery, that “God still has lots for you to do”, I have been looking for what that is ever since. Last year, I volunteered to chaperone a mission trip to rural West Va. to help Nazareth Farm with its construction projects for local residents. I also became a Eucharistic Minister, visiting the sick. Once you have been the one lying in bed, it’s much easier to be sympathetic to the sick. I think my record for involvement in the local community speaks clearly to what I can do at the state level. |
| We built a ramp for a disabled woman in West Va. |
| Talking about the world's problems with a couple of native West Virginians... |