Hoelzer strives to aid other child abuse victims

Margaret Hoelzer set a world record in the 200-meter backstroke at the US trials for the Beijing Olympics. At the Games this summer, she won three medals (two silvers and a bronze). She is a champion swimmer, but she has struggled for a long time with dark secrets swirling just below the surface. Secrets more than 20 years old. Secrets about child sexual abuse. And now she’s reliving her past to help other children.

The process is painful. Hoelzer, 25, couldn’t live by herself until last year, her childhood robbed by a playmate’s father who gained her trust when she was just 5 years old. The ripples created by the trauma haunt her to this day. But after returning from China, she decided to tell her story.

Advocates are grateful for her support. Researchers say 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 7 boys will be a victim of sexual abuse before their 18th birthday, according to the US Department of Veteran Affairs, National Center for Posttraumatic Stress.

“Margaret is so unbelievable; what she’s doing screams of courage,” said Catherine Hereford, the director of development for the National Child Advocacy Center, a nonprofit agency for which Hoelzer is a spokeswoman. Hoelzer wants to devote her life to the prevention of child sexual abuse.

Hereford calls her “amazing.”

“It’s extremely difficult to talk about something like that,” said Hereford. “A lot of people that have gone through it feel shame and guilt. She had an opportunity to share her story to make a difference, and that outweighed any hesitation she had about public humiliation or embarrassing herself.”

Hoelzer, tall and personable, pulls out a photograph of herself when she was 6: a blue-eyed girl in a sky-blue bathing suit, with a beaming smile. Everything looked picture-perfect.

But something horrible was going on. And her parents never knew.

Today when she talks about her playmate’s father, she shrugs.

“This happened to me, and I went to the Olympics. If I can help just one child, it’s worth talking about. Maybe some 8-year-old kid will read this and say, ‘Yeah, I can get over this. I see light at the end of the tunnel.’ ”

Read this powerful story from Stan Grossfield of The Boston Globe - Belated Crusade

Margaret swam collegiately for Auburn and now trains, professionally with King Aquatic Club in suburban Seattle, WA.

Recently, Margaret competed at her second Olympic Games where she won 1 bronze and 2 silver medals. At the US Trials, she posted her first World Record swim in her signature event, the 200m Backstroke. The record was lowered in Beijing by Kirsty Coventry.

Margaret is a National Spokesperson for the National Children’s Advocacy Center. She is available for speaking engagements. Please contact PMG Sports for more information.

Margaret is nominated for ‘Female Athlete of the Year’ at the upcoming Golden Goggle Awards

Boston Globe, Margaret Hoelzer website

Melissa Daly loses over 200lbs to become ironwoman

A few years ago Melissa Daly weighed 380 pounds.   Today, after becoming one of the clinical trial patients for gastric bypass surgery, Melissa has shed over 200 pounds and competes in Ironman endurance races.  She runs now for Team in Training to help raise funds for Leukemia research.  Melissa is driven to help find a cure for Leukemia in honor of Christian Stafford, her godson, who died from the disease.

9 year old is Health Hero of 2008

Winter Vinecki, a nine-year-old girl who honored her father’s fight against prostate cancer by helping to raise more than $100,000 for Athletes for a Cure and the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF), has been named a WebMD 2008 Health Hero. She is featured in the November/December print edition of WebMD and on the publication’s online site.

Prostate Cancer Foundation
Dan Zenka, APR
Vice President, Communications
310.570.4714 (Direct)
310.903.1112 (Mobile)
dzenka@pcf.org

Wednesday hero - Captain Gussie Jones

Cpt. Gussie Jones was born in Arkansas and was one of eight children. She began her Army career by enlisting in 1988 as a personnel clerk and climbed to the rank of a sergeant.

In 1986, Jones earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Arkansas Central University. She was selected to attend the Army Enlisted Commissioning Program and earned her second bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University in 1998. It was in nursing.

Her career as a registered nurse and a commissioned officer began in September 1998 at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. In 2002, after completing a course in critical-care nursing, she was assigned to Beaumont Army Medical Center, where she became a mentor.

“She was a very dedicated person and was always smiling, said a co-worker and friend, Capt. Susan Gilbert. If anyone asked her to do something, she would do it. And she was very kind and gentle and patient with the patients.”

Cpt. Jones died of a heart attack while on duty in Baghdad, Iraq. During her 15 years of military services, Jones received a Joint Service Commendation medal, four Army Commendation medals and three Army Achievement medals.

“She was so much a part of their team, and so her death must really affect their morale,” Gilbert said. “I’m very worried about the other soldiers because they’ve lost their battle buddy.”

Cpt. Gussie M. Jones
41 years old from Raleigh, Arkansas
31st Combat Support Hospital
March 07, 2004

All Information Was Found On And Copied From MilitaryCity.com

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Young fighter battles cancer to the end with Bernard Hopkins

You won’t find Shaun Negler’s name in the FightFax database, the official record-keeping service of professional boxing.

There are no tapes of any of his memorable wins or stories of epic triumphs left behind. That’s because they don’t exist. He was robbed of a career in the sport he loved.

But none other than Bernard Hopkins, one of the greatest fighters of this or any generation, will tell you that he hasn’t met a tougher, or more courageous, fighter than Shaun Negler.

The improbable friendship between the long-time middleweight champion and the 18-year-old who worshipped him officially ended at 12:15 p.m. EDT on Oct. 23, 2008, when Negler could fight no more and succumbed to a 2½ year battle with cancer.

But Hopkins, who first met Negler in 2006 when he learned that the then-16-year-old had a deadly form of cancer, isn’t ready to accept that his friend is gone.

“This kid’s soul is still with us,” said Hopkins, who served as a pall bearer at Negler’s funeral in Philadelphia on Oct. 29. “His spirit lives inside of me and inside a lot of the people I met over these last couple of years.”

Hopkins said that for as much as he may have given to Shaun and the Neglers, he received much more in return.

“This was a kid who had every reason to feel sorry for himself, who had every reason to give up, and he never once would give in and he never once looked at the dark side of anything,” Hopkins said. “He looked at death and said, ‘I want to live. And I’m going to make the most of what I have.’ And that’s what we have to do while we’re here on this Earth. Take what you have and do the best you can with it. Look at what this kid was dealt and look what he did with it.

Read the entire article on Yahoo Sports - Hopkins and an even tougher fighter

Yahoo Sports

Cynthia Derosier Surfs for Good Causes

Cynthia Derosier is the author of The Surfer Spirit Book and recently published The Survivor Spirit : The Beauty, Passion, and Power of Breast Cancer Survivors.

Cynthia is convinced surfing can help Hawaii’s at-risk youth.  In partnership with Girls Court and The Surfrider Foundation’s O’ahu Chapter, Derosier started The Spirit Sessions, a six-week program aimed to help at-risk teens redirect their lives in a positive way through surfing and other ocean-related activities.

Beth Kanter interviewed Cynthia on her blog.  Here is an excerpt.

What is the connection between surfing and healing?

There is a saying “only a surfer knows the feeling” and it’s true. It’s hard to describe, but I can tell you, anyone who has ever caught a wave, whether they surf throughout their life or only once, everyone remembers that first wave. I taught some Buddhist monks to surf and they told me that it is very much in the spirit of being a Buddhist because you must live in the moment.

Surfing keeps you in balance, physically, emotionally and spiritually. The physical part is obvious. The rest, becomes obvious the more you surf. It’s the only sport I can think of where you play with nature. not on it, not in it, but with it. You sit in the right spot then wait for a wave, then it does what it wants with you. And if you are skilled you know how to respond to it in a way that works for you. And no two waves are ever the same. And no surf spot is ever static.

I see a lot of self-esteem enhancement with the kids in our surf program (The Spirit Sessions). Most don’t think they can surf and we get them up and riding on their first lesson!  They get a great workout, learn a whole new sport and positive activity (vs some of their other less positive habits.   They also develop a whole new social circle. In addition they start to see the ocean and the environment differently and they start to ask us marine biology questions, which lead to general environmental education. For many of our kids its a chance to practice and reconnect to their Hawaiian culture. So there is also cultural healing as well.

The Hawaiians believe that the ocean itself is healing. He`e Nalu is the Hawaiian word for “surf” it literally means “to slide on churning water”…but “nalu” also refers to the amniotic fluid and He`e Nalu also implies being born. In many ways, surfing was regarded as a way to celebrate life and be cleansed.

You also created a surfing program for breast cancer survivors.  Can you tell me about that?

As part of Make A Difference Day, the kids from our Spirit Sessions Program helped us teach some of the women who were breast cancer survivors to how to surf. It was a rainy and cold day, but a few of the women came down anyway. They had a blast and I think at least two of them are going to keep surfing! In exchange They gave the girls some life advice about being positive and never giving up when faced with life challenges and most of all continuing to celebrate life and enjoy what good there is in the world, surfing being one of them!

Read the full interview

Frances Leach - helping patients at Children’s hospital

Frances Leach works full-time, but she still manages to find time to collect arts and crafts supplies for patients at Children’s Hospital in Aurora.

For six years, Leach has gotten co-workers and local companies to donate supplies and money.  This year, she filled 102 boxes, her biggest haul yet.  The supplies fill “art carts” throughout the Children’s Hospital Network, from Broomfield to Parker.  They allow children to make art and crafts during their hospital stay.

“Without her ability to coordinate all these donations of art supplies, I honestly don’t know what we would have done without that,” said Mary Navin from Children’s Hospital.

See Video: Frances Leach - Everyday hero

Colorado woman honored as ‘Everyday Hero’

Being an everyday hero rarely gets a lot of recognition, but Tuesday one was honored by the Lion’s Club. This year’s Hometown Hero is Diana Lee who started “Look Good Feel Better,” 15 years ago. The volunteer program has helped more than 700 women struggling with cancer to feel better about themselves.  She provides them with everything from wigs to make-up.In addition to paying tribute to the Hometown Hero, the Lions Club gives $1,000 to charity on her behalf.

See the Video: Diana Lee - Look Good Feel Better

From CEO To Math Teacher

As the CEO of H&R Block (HRB) — America’s top tax preparation firm that revolutionized electronic filing — Tom Bloch produced huge profits and earned nearly $1 million a year.

Despite his success and fortune, he gave it all up at age 41 to do what he saw as more fulfilling and beneficial to society: teaching math at an inner-city middle school.

His career change drew national attention in 1995. Oprah had him on her TV show, as did NBC’s “Today.” People magazine featured him, as did the New York Times.

They all quoted people wondering how a CEO could leave the firm that his dad built and take a 98% pay cut.

Bloch’s answer? He borrowed one from the Dalai Lama on the meaning of life: Be happy and useful.

“I think when you find your calling and you follow your heart, you just become a more fulfilled person,” Bloch told IBD. “I find that my work in urban education in a very, very small way (is) working at repairing the world. And what I learned over these years is that when you work at repairing the world, you repair yourself.”

BY TRANG HO
INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY

Read the full story From Tax CEO to Math Teacher

Related Posts:

• Tom Bloch interview with Entrepeneur.com - Sept 2008
• Seven Lessons Learned by CEO turned teacher Tom Bloch - Aug 2008
• Tom Bloch’s book - Amazon.com
  • Stand for the Best: What I Learned after Leaving My Job as CEO of H&R Block to Become a Teacher and Founder of an Inner-City Charter School (Hardcover)

LiveStrong Winner - meet Zach

Enjoy this video and story of a true everyday hero.   Zach is the winner of the recent Lance Armstrong livestrong contest “Dare to”.

While battling cancer Zach ran six road races, completed eight triathlons, one duathlon, and one century bike ride.

More information about Zach and the new livestrong.com site can be found at http://www.livestrong.com

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