January Volunteer of the Month

Blog readers, I'm afraid I've been negligent of my blogging duties. I kept thinking I had time to get our monthly Volunteer of the Month post up because, you know, it was just the beginning of the month. But then, I realized my time has gone by so quickly and I've found myself at the end of the month already! If 2009 goes by as quickly as January did, we're in for a fast year!

Our January Volunteers of the Month deserved more time and recognition on this site, that's for sure. Amy Hegi and Shay Sides co-chaired a new campaign for donor giving, Heart of a Hero, last year. This donor campaign was to encourage individual giving to donate a gift of $500 or more. The program raised $71,000. In November, we hosted a cocktail party for recognition and thank you to the donors of the program, including our special guest speaker Linda Armstrong Kelly, mother of Lance Armstrong and motivational speaker/author. Shay and Amy significantly helped Heroes for Children achieve fundraising success in 2008 and we're very grateful for their time and effort.

If you are interested in the Heart of a Hero program for 2009, please contact Michelle Peacock at mpeacock@heroesforchildren.org

Time for our fun answers from our January Volunteers of the Month!

Shay Sides with her family

Amy Hegi with her family

Name, Occupation:

Shay:

Shay Sides
Wife and Mom
Escrow Assistant/Marketing – Republic Title

Amy:

Amy Hegi
Wife and Mom
Chauffeur, personal assistant, waitress, maid, short order cook, CFO, CEO…

How did you get involved with HFC?

Shay:
I work with Andrew Scott at Republic Title so I followed sweet Allie’s life and soon met Jenny and Larissa. My initial involvement with HFC was chairing Underwriting for the first Heroes and Handbags brunch.

Amy: I attended one of the first HFC meetings at Cameron Smith's house (HFC board member) and was hooked. I had to be involved! I have had a passion for this organization since I was introduced to Jenny and Larissa.

Do you have any kids and/or pets?

Shay:

Jack – 10
Mary Claire – 8
Shelby – 3
2 fish

Amy:

Kate – 8 years
Mary Allison – 5 years
Lila Grace – 6 moths
Baker – puppy

From looking at you, no one would guess that…..

Shay:

I would love to be a doctor!

Amy:

My husband and I just spent our 20th Christmas together.

Favorite place to eat:

Shay:

The Porch

Amy:

Café Pacific

What’s on your book shelf?

Shay:

The Power of a Praying Parent and Wife
The Mitford Series

Amy:
The Bible, Healthy Sleep Habits (it’s not working!), Twilight

What’s in your iPod/CD changer?
Shay:

All Country

Amy:

a little bit of everything… Sugarland, Taylor Swift, Neil Diamond, Beyonce, Elton John, Cold Play, George Strait, Caedmon’s Call, Jon Abel, Highschool Musical…

Who’s your hero?

Shay:
My grandmother, Gene Evans, who is the unsung hero of our family. She is a faithful servant of the Lord, a wonderful wife, raised 3 amazing sons and is a precious grandmother – a true role model for me.

Amy:

My grandmother, Rosemary Long. She was a woman before her time! She gave 100% to everything she did and made you feel like the most important and loved person in the world. She made everyone feel that way. She knew what it meant to love and serve God above all others. She was one of the first women in Texas to get her masters degree and devoted over 50 years of her life to teaching 3rd grade. She was an absolutely amazing woman!