Thank you so much for coming back to listen to this bonus episode of the Extraordinary Acts For Others Podcast made by Freedom’s Ring. We here at Freedom’s Ring strongly believe every extraordinary acts for others creates an even more extraordinary America and that is why we are so proud of our service in our communities and celebrating others who serve and give back through their own life, business and organizations. Service to the well-being of our country, however that may look is patriotism in action.
I am the host Sara Hunold and founder of Freedom’s Ring and this week we continue with our conversation with Leslie O’Bryant and Susan Newell. They are our extraordinary guest because just over a year ago Susan’s daughter and Leslie’s sister, Shauna who was a navy veteran became part of the statistics that 22 veterans a day commit suicide. In the aftermath of the loss, Leslie and Susan founded Shauna’s Sweet Tea, a nonprofit with a mission to support mental health issues that youth and veterans face as well as to bring comfort to family members experiencing loss because of suicide.
Before we get to part two of our conversation with Leslie and Susan, here is how Freedom’s Ring is focusing on and addressing mental and emotional health and well-being.
1. First, we are committed to growing our sense of community. I’ve talked about it before, by I grew up in a town with a very tight nit community and when we PCSd nearly 3,000 miles away losing that sense of community was devastating. That is what motivated me to learn more about how to build that up and those finding is our mission – getting out and engaging in our communities and building relationships in and around our communities. This is essential to our temporary lifestyles as military families because relationships allow us to get more rooted. Stronger the roots, the more resilient we become to life.
2. We use service as our vehicle to building community because the research is clear on how extraordinary volunteering is for us. When we volunteer, we see that our actions are useful and we feel better when we know that our lives have a bigger purpose than just serving ourselves. When we serve a greater cause, we feel a greater sense of connection to the people we serve, the people serving along side of us, and greater sense of connection to the positive contributions we bring to the people around us.
With that we invite you to become a Friend and join our FRamily dedicated to service. Membership is always free at FreedomsRingUSA.org. And now here is our conversation about the extraordinary work of Shauna’s Sweet Tea .
[Interview with Susan and Leslie]
Thank you so much Leslie and Susan for sharing about Shauna and for the inspirtation of using the pain in your life to proactively reach out to serve others and promote kindness towards ourselves and others. If you want to learn more about Shauna Sweet Tea and the mission Leslie and Susan are on in Shauna’s memory, visit shaunaSweetTea.org.
Now its time for spirited stories of extraordinary acts for others that happen across our extraordinary country. We celebrate the goodness around us because research has shown when we appreciate goodness we are more likely to act in goodness. When you see goodnews stories tag @FreedomsRingUSA or use the #ExtraordinaryActsForOthers and we will spread and celebrate the extraordinary goodness of America.
Our first story comes from Santa Clara California where 500 kids who are battling cancer will gather for a day a way from cancer this mothers day. This day will include free admission in to an amusement park and a picnic lunch organized by an organization called Courageous Kids which was founded by a 2 time cancer survivor. The entire day is designed for the whole family to take a break from thinking about cancer and just enjoying themselves.
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/families-get-day-away-from-cancer-at-california-park/
Next we go to Manchester where a police officer is credited with helping a man he has arrested four to five times. Officer MaGuire told this man if he would get sober, he would take him golfing after he figured out they shared that in common. As the man was going through rehab, donations started coming in, a set of golf balls, a set of clubs, and giftcards for rounds of golf. In all Mark has been sober over 100 days now and as promised Officer Maguier and he have hit the links.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/good-news/police-officers-promise-to-homeless-man-gets-him-off-streets-onto-golf-course/ar-AAAMnsi
Now its our turn to make our own goodness. As we heard in the stories of extraordinary acts for others above, the most heart warming stories of giving is all about ordinary service with extra love. So we encourage you to do the same and when you do you service to others or volunteer in your communities share it with us – you can email your story to [email protected], DM us the story on social media or our preferred way is to post your story with the #ExtraordinaryActsForOthers.
Thank you again for listening to the extraordinary acts for others podcast. Its been amazing to see it grow. If you want to do something extraordinary for us, you can subscribe, rate us and leave a review, and spread the word by sharing on your social media.
We really believe people are extraordinary and have the ability right now to do something extraordinary for someone else.
We invite you to join us follow us @FreedomsRingUSA and sign up for FREE membership on FreedomsRingUSA.org. Be extraordinary and enter the Ring, become a Friend and join our FRamily.
