Here is something I really want to share. 

When I was volunteering at Suicide Prevention, I would walk down a hallway to the call center where the banks of telephones were housed and where volunteers would go to man the phones.

On the way to the San francisco Suicide Prevention call center, all walkers would come across this office in which a young blonde woman sat.  She always had her eyes on her paperwork and she had perfect posture.  I didn't know what she did. Since she didn't work with the volunteers, our paths never crossed.

One day, as I was looking up Linkedin, a photo of this young woman popped up alongside the profile I was reading. I took a look at it, and found her profile quite interesting.  So I decided to dig further.  

This young woman's name is Meghan Freebeck.  She is the Deputy Director at Suicide Prevention. Of course I knew she worked at Suicide Prevention.  What was eye-catching was what else she did.  For some years, she has been gathering up hygiene products (such as tooth brushes, tooth paste, and tampons) from hotels and similar organizations.  She would then distribute these products to organizations which assist the homeless.  All this she did on her own time without pay.  

I could only imagine how difficult it was to convince hotels and the like to part with their supplies.  How would they know she wasn't turning around and re-selling these products?  That was the challenge on the donors' side.  

But what about the challenge on the beneficiaries' side? How did Meghan know what products to collect.  She had done her market research.  She talked with various charitable organizations to determine what the homeless most needed so she knew what products to solicit from donors.

All this she does outside of her full time work at Suicide Prevention.  It is equivalent to having a second full-time job.  She doesn't get paid for doing this work. She is driven by what she saw on the streets. 

Over time, I have had many opportunities to talk with Meghan.  What amazed me is how many qualities this one person possesses.  We know of industry leaders who have many great qualities, but not necessarily all the qualities needed of a corporate leader.  But here is a young woman, all of 29 years of age, who through her program, Simply the Basics, has done all the following:

• Conceived of an idea
• Identified the need
• Established a vision
• Mapped out a course of action
• Organized a group of volunteers
• Led the volunteers
• Implemented her vision
• Managed the program

You might say I was awe-struck. I became a believer and supporter. 

I hope you are as impressed by Meghan's program as I am.

Cheers to All,

Robert L.