*The full and original blog on this award can be found on Mary O’Connor’s Life is Full of Sweet Spots blog.
Mommybites would like to congratulate fellow Mommybites mom, Homeira Walter, for winning the first annual Sweet Spots Award for her dedication to helping her fellow community in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Below is a portion of the blog about the award, created by author Mary O’Connor and award winner Homeira Walter:
“Created as a means of encouraging, appreciating and honoring those who show courage, strength and hope in the face of sadness and loss, the small, but emblematically powerful Sweet Spot Award was presented to Homeira at a mid-July gathering of family and friends in Monmouth Beach, NJ.
Homeira was nominated for the award by friend and neighbor, Karen Rancourt (Yes! Mommybites’ very own Dr. Gramma Karen!) , who wrote of the way Homeira lovingly and tirelessly helped her community after Sandy left so much devastation and uprooted so many families. According to estimates, some 70 percent of the homes in Monmouth Beach were flooded, some taking in as much as eight feet of water, many beyond repair. When Homeira and her family returned to their home, even though they had no power (and would not get it back for 12 days), they saw they were among the few fortunate ones whose house had survived, and decided to help those whose homes had been flooded.
After arranging for their three children to move in with inland family and friends, Homiera and her husband Matt worked as part of a four-member community work team. Day after day, for two weeks, they would arrive at distressed homes wearing high-top boots and work gloves, carrying heavy-duty bags to remove contaminated items, lugging them out to the street for pick-up.
During the evenings, Homeira returned to her own home, often bringing with her displaced townspeople she had helped during the day. She and Matt provided four homeless families a place to stay until they could make other living arrangements. Many of their guests would bring still-edible food from their freezers, and Homeira and Matt would fire up their gas grill and feed whoever happened to be staying with them, between 20 and 25 people a day…
…Many lives were made a whole lot easier because of Homeira, who clearly exemplifies the values and contributions that the award was set up to recognize. Through force of mind and spirit, she has inspired and helped others to keep the vision of hope and joy alive in the face of loss and heartache.”
To read the rest of Homeira’s story please visit the Life is Full of Sweet Spots Blog.
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