Giving Back

Print this Post

A few months ago I had the pleasure of writing the biographies for some of Charlotte, North Carolina’s Most Influential Women as selected by the Mecklenburg Times.  I really didn’t have any expectations when I agreed to take on this freelance writing job, besides the hope that I could meet the deadline.  I had no idea the influence the biographies would have upon me. When we attend ceremonies in honor of others we tend the breeze over the written biography, thinking we already know the accolades. When you write someone’s biography based on their answers to a few generic questions, it requires a much more intimate look into a person’s life, and moreover, their life’s motivation. Who was most influential in your life?  Where you do see yourself in ten years? What are you most proud of?   The thing I found most powerful was these women’s desire to give back, to help their community, and their selfless spirit!

One of the first things I noticed, and it’s something I tell children all the time, is that they should have a hobby or two, and that their hobbies can become a very important part of their lives.   This blog is one of my hobbies! Another thing I noted was that our college major does not determine our life’s work. I have felt, at times, as if my college major was a limiting factor to my professional growth.  This is what the enemy wants us to believe. If God put a certain desire in our hearts, the enemy cannot stop the work the Lord wants for our lives. The problem is that we often believe the enemy rather than believing what God says.  

I found that anyone, in any role, can give back.  Kelly R. Goforth, Deputy Project Director of the Lynx Blue Line, Charlotte’s light rail system, said that while she was fortunate to have had a leadership role in the $1.16 Billion project, she has to remember, “the job is about people not projects.  We plan, design, and build project for people.” Jennifer Pagan, Chief Technical Officer for Aquisense Technologies majored in Electrical Engineering, but holds multiple patents in the area of water purification. She said, “more lives have been saved by good plumbing than medicine.”  She has devoted her life’s work to this cause. The biography that I found most profound was that of Stephanie McKee, the owner of Apparo Solutions. Fascinated with technology, she became a network computer technician. After working on the computer systems of several nonprofit agencies, and realizing the amount of money they spend on their computers, she decided to open a nonprofit, herself, Apparo Solutions.  Rather than local nonprofits putting so much money into their computers, she wants them to be able to use those funds for the great work they do for the community. She gives back by servicing the computers of more than 80 nonprofits in the Charlotte area.

How do you give back?


“There is one body, but it has many parts. But all its many parts make up one body. It is the same with Christ. We were all baptized by one Holy Spirit. And so we are formed into one body. It didn’t matter whether we were Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free people.” ~1 Corinthians 12:12-13


Amen!
Happy Father’s Day, Daddy!
Kim

​Copyright 2019 Kimberly G. Massey