Category Archives: StartingBloc

Jay's parents, Cindi and Morgan

Jay’s parents, Cindi and Morgan, are like 2nd parents to me and have been amazingly supportive of all of our endeavors.    You may have seen Morgan on this blog before as he accompanied me to the Community Garden in Phoenix over the Thanksgiving weekend.  We look forward to spending a lot more time with Jay’s parents throughout the Service Driven adventure as we use Phoenix as a home base.

Uncle Nathan and Aunt Mariel were kind enough to give us a donation in the form of a Visa Gift Card which allowed us to use part of it for the Sponsorship and then part of it in getting camping supplies for our road trip.  Nathan and Mariel recently got married and we were so excited to welcome Nathan into the family officially.  We will miss living so close to them.

Terri, an old picture of us

Terri and I have been friends since I was born.  Seriously.  She was born 3 days before me and our parents brought us together as babies.  We have followed similar paths, doing Girl Scouts together, going to college at a close by state school and then returning to the DC metro area and pursuing grad school.  Terri and Phil recently got engaged, which is an exciting reason for us to circle back to Virginia in August.

my cousin Karl and his daughter Samantha (Amy not pictured)

My cousin Amy and her husband Karl were also generous in giving us a Visa Gift card which we were then able to us towards both the StartingBloc sponsorship and supplies for our trip.  Amy, who worked in publishing, was also one of the first subscribers to the blog and has been helpful in advice on writing and publishing.  We will miss seeing our east coast relatives while we are travelling primarily in the West, and will particularly miss seeing Samantha as often, as she is growing and changing every day.

And last but certainly not least is my friend, Carolyn Ha, for which I do not have a recent picture because I have not seen her very much since High School.  Carolyn was one of my best friends at TJ.  We used to talk about getting into TJ on the “ditz quota” as we skipped through the halls and gave out gold stars for good fashion.  She went on to be a Pharmacist and had clearly been just going along for the fun on my joke about the ditz quota.  Carolyn is one of those great responsible, smart, and determined young people that are going to be the leaders of my generation.

When I started asking for sponsorship for StartingBloc, a young leaders program that will kick off Service Driven next month, I had faith that my family and friends would come through for me.  I believed that they would support me and this initiative because I have such an amazing group of friends and family.  Thank you so much to everyone that contributed.  I look forward to sharing what I learn next month.  For all my sponsors, I will volunteer in your name during the trip, so expect to see another blog post with your name on it down the road.

Now a little more about who my sponsors are:

My parents, Melinda and John

My parents are always the first to show support for my ideas and adventures.  They stepped up right away with a donation to get the sponsorships rolling.

LinMarie, my AmeriCorps buddy

I met LinMarie through the AmeriCorps program in Flagstaff, Arizona (she’s seen here standing outside our old house in Flagstaff).  LinMarie and I were great partners through our year in AmeriCorps, working together whenever we could and offering support.  LinMarie has an amazing commitment to service and I really look forward to seeing her when we get to Arizona.

Son, my date for prom and go to guy

Son, who I met freshman year of high school, has always been an inspiration for me.  He came to this country as a small child from Vietnam and earned his citizenship during high school.  A true genius, he was substitute teaching for his mom’s college courses as a teenager.  This year he will become a doctor, working for the Air Force, focused on emergency medicine.

Uncle Chris, my cousin Stephanie, and Aunt Madelon

Another of my sponsors was Aunt Madelon.  Madelon is very generous, last year she and Stephanie baked cookies and bread and put on a fabulous bake sale that raised several hundred dollars for the American Cancer Society.

Tiffany, CVN's Chair

I’ve only known Tiffany since early 2010, but through working together on Community Volunteer Network, I’ve come to admire her greatly.  She is a true servant leader, focusing on recognizing others and trying to maximize their talents.  This year she is also the Chair of the Arlington County Fair Board, so the Arlingtonians have a great fair to look forward to this summer!

Maria, a fellow ODKM graduate

Maria was in the ODKM program with me and I got to know her over the last year as well.  She is a passionate person with a big heart and I learned a lot from her in a short amount of time.  Even after the trauma of being in a hit and run car accident she managed to get a check in the mail to send me a donation.

Jay's grandmother, Millie

Jay’s Grandmother, Millie, has always been so supportive of everything we do.  She sent me a graduation gift which I was able to put towards the StartingBloc program fee so I am counting her amongst my sponsors.

TO BE CONTINUED…