June Volunteers of the Month

Expanding into Houston has been a major focus of Heroes for Children for the last few years. Last year, we were fortunate to hire Mimi Bates as our Houston Manager togrow and expand our fundraising efforts further into the Houston market. Mimi has done a tremendous job, but it is with the help of many volunteers and donors that she is able to succeed. Working with her in the expansion efforts are Kristi Oldham and Linda Elmer. Both Kristi and Linda have been involved with Heroes for Children for several years, working with the Heroes and Handbags committee. In the past year, Kristi and Linda have been the co-chairs of the Heart of a Hero fundraising campaign. Heart of a Hero is a donor giving group and campaign encouraging donations $500 and over. Through their work, new people learned about our organization and mission. Kristi and Linda have been invaluable to both Mimi in guidance as well as to the entire success of Heroes for Children. We are very grateful to have such tremendous women partnering with us!

Name, Occupation:

Kristi K. Oldham
Stay at home mom

Linda Folkerth Elmer
Homemaker and Compulsive Volunteer

How did you get involved with HFC?Kristi--Through dear friends sharing the love for the mission of HFC

Linda--My college friend Shelley Beckman emailed me 5 years ago about an amazing organization she was involved in, in my hometown of Dallas that was coming to Houston with a fabulous event involving handbags. She had me hooked after hearing Jenny & Larissa’s stories…

Do you have any kids and/or pets?Kristi--2 boys
Kenan- 7
Oliver- 4
Scout- German Short Hair Pointer- 8 months

Linda--I have an 8 (almost 9!) year old son, Sam and a 6 (almost 7!) year old daughter, Addie. We hope to add a dog to family sometime soon!

From looking at you, no one would guess that…..
Kristi--I would have loved to be a disco diva superstar way back in the day

Linda-- I LOVE scary movies. I host a grown-up party every year and the theme is based on a different scary movie – “Psycho,” “The Shining,’ “Carrie,” this year theme is “The Birds!”


Favorite place to eat:
Kristi--Any clean restaurant with fresh sushi (less than 24 hours old)

Linda--Azuma or any Japanese restaurant.

What’s on your book shelf?
Kristi--Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl

Linda-- Easy summer reads: “Get Lucky” by Katherine Center; “A Soft Place to Land” by Susan Rebecca White
And, “7 Secrets to Raising Healthy Sons” by Meg Meeker – I have a soon-to-be 4th grade boy - yikes!
What’s in your iPod/CD changer?Kristi--Lots of euro disco and Nora Jones

Linda--Everything from Madonna and classic 80’s to Linkin Park & Ludacris and, of, course, Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber – I have kids!
Who’s your hero?
Kristi--My sweet husband, Mike

Linda-My parents, who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on June 12th. They truly demonstrate the dedication and respect needed for a fulfilling marriage. They introduced me and my two siblings to community service as children when they were heavily involved in our school PTA and spearheaded our playground reconstruction. It showed us how fun it is to help others and be part of changing their lives forever.