a man for others

Yesterday at lunch, I attended the Volunteer Recognition Luncheon put on by the Junior League of San Jose. It was an event to recognize outstanding volunteers serving San Jose and the greater Bay Area. It was a deeply moving and incredibly inspirational event. While all the award recipients were dedicated, committed, and deserving... one of the 10 winners stood out among the rest - my fiance's mom, Barbara Mount. Mrs. Mount received the Voluntarism At Its Best Award for her work with the JW House. Here is the video that describes her work (I am assuming that the Junior League will eventually post this video on their website, but until then... a video of a video will have to do).

The story of JW and Mrs. Mount is truly inspirational. JW was a student at Bellarmine high school, where Mrs. Mount worked with the choir - meeting JW when he asked to join the choir to play the bongos. Then, as a freshman, JW was diagnosed with brain cancer. During his battle with cancer, he came up with the idea of creating a "home away from home" for other children and families receiving treatment who needed a place close to the hospital to stay. Mrs. Mount took this idea and made it a reality - a truly remarkable feat. To read more about JW, or to make a donation, visit www.jwhouse.org. As Mrs. Mount said in her acceptance speech - JW was truly a man for others.