When I was six years old, I had a highly malignant brain tumor. Now 10 years later, I am 16 and cancer-free. I have side effects from surgeries and treatment, but I am alive and thankful for every single day.
Shortly after my treatment, one of my mom’s friends held a fundraiser to help offset the significant cost of my surgeries and after-treatment therapies. I learned a lesson from her at an early age about community service and paying it forward.
Community service and paying it forward can take on many shapes and I am proud that so many families I know in Malibu embrace this concept. Some of my mom’s friends have had “Mending Kids” live with them, helping them while they get life-saving surgery.
Some of my friends and I have gone on the Malibu Presbyterian Church “Baja Build” to build houses for the poor in Mexico. I participated this past fall for the second time. I think we get as much out of it as the new homeowners do!
I love to do fundraising for Make-A-Wish and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital because both organizations did so much for me.
I also believe in helping individual people in need. Some people have cancer, some are homeless and some are living month-to-month right here in Malibu, and most of us don’t even know it.
I am working to help a Malibu resident who has “been there” for many families in Malibu over the years. However, she has faced a loss of her primary job, has been without a car for over a year and works hard at numerous part time jobs to make ends meet.
I think one of the kindest acts of community service and paying it forward is to help someone who may be a “virtual stranger,” but someone in need.
If you would like to help me & participate in my current community service effort, please go to gofundme.com/car4amanda.
Wouldn’t the world be such a great place if we all helped each other in our times of need?
Christian Pierce