Gray Fleetwood

ESSAY: GRAY FLEETWOOD

FAITHFULLY RESTORED

For my service learning project, I chose to volunteer at Faithfully Restored. Faithfully Restored is a non profit organization whose goal is lifting women up who are in need of care, encouragement, community and even a powerful feeling of being loved. Faithfully Restored started out with four female members. Each of the four founding members have deep desires to give back and to provide hope to the community and other women in need. Each member has experienced trials that have rocked them and challenged them. The founders have experienced the loss of small children, infertility and adoption issues and cancer, so they are familiar with pain and loss and suffering. Their trials are real, yet somehow they manage to come together and put others first in a way that helps them heal themselves at the same time. These women want to provide help to other women in their darkest hours even though their own days could be troubling to them. They put their pain into the love of someone else. They encourage others to choose joy, love and healing while they themselves do the same exact thing in their own daily lives. They want to connect to other women in similar situations so these women can feel understood. Through their hard work and dedication to their desire to help others in need, they are able to make everyone around them stronger. They influence the other women they interact with directly and influence their families and others around them. These women listen to their community and take action to be a positive influence and give their time to directly see the impact of their work. Their work does not discriminate. The fact that these individuals have experienced or are experiencing loss or tragic events reiterates the reality everyone can experience the same feelings. Having a positive force in your life can make a huge difference in the lives of others as well as your own life. Faithfully Restored started as an idea amongst friends and with strong determination they were able to figure out a way to translate this idea to an effective non profit charity. Each of the four founding members are from different backgrounds and experiences. Starting off, they realized the power of prayer and positive reinforcement from other women who have endured similar difficult situations, and they were able to grow from four founders to many people who are now involved in their amazing organization. What started out in their homes and cars has grown significantly, and they now have brand new offices in Cool Springs. They used to have to do all of the work themselves and now they have many volunteers who are more than willing to help them. They now have prayer groups, special events with speakers, workshops, singersongwriter events and many more fundraisers on a regular basis. The work these women have done has been seen in many ways, but the impact they have made on others can be seen especially in their yearly growth in donations. In 2019 they raised $28,000 and then in 2021 they raised over $315,000 (Jamie Heard from Faithfully Restored). To date, Faithfully Restored has responded to more than 600 individual prayer requests. They

have provided over 350 small projects under $500 which include the first holiday after a loss, single mom Christmas packages, and even headstones for women who have lost children. They have provided more than 30 large projects which include rent for families in need, trips for grieving moms, counseling for those who need it, help with college tuition payments, counseling retreats and even $15,000.00 adoption grants. They have given out over 2,200 community care packages which include packages to police officers, teachers, Vanderbilt Mother’s Day gifts, military wives, foster moms, adoptive moms, oncology patients and nurses. Faithfully Restored has tried to reach as many women as possible, and it does not matter if the project or need is large or small. They want to reach all those who need anything from a smile or hug to a care package to even money for rent or burial fees. Faithfully Restored, with the help of donors and volunteers, is able to reach so many women. The amount of growth they have experienced in such a short amount of time shows the success of their work.

I chose Faithfully Restored for many reasons for my service learning project. I wanted to be of help to Faithfully Restored because one of the founders is Jamie Heard, my Ensworth second grade teacher and family friend. As many of you know, she lost her precious son William tragically when he was only two and a half. He choked on chicken from chicken noodle soup while being watched by his nanny. He was such a special boy and went to heaven way too early. I was very close to William, so Faithfully Restored interested me before I even knew much about it. It was a way for me to stay connected to William and to promote this non profit to others who may not have heard about it. I was so excited to be a part of this program. Through the years, Jamie has been a presence in my life as well as her family. As I have gotten older and reflected on their loss, I saw how gracefully they all handled their situation. Their daughter Madeline and I have had a friendship through the years, and I realized she looks up to me. Whether it was my age or my activities, she always noticed the things I did. I want to be a positive influence for Madeline and set good examples. While realizing this influence I had with Madeline, I began to see what Jamie had started with Faithfully Restored and came to realize how being involved could also be something for me to look up to and learn how to be a strong person as well as a strong woman. I have been able to learn how to handle adversity and turn a negative into positive, pain into love. This can be applied in all areas of life not just with Faithfully Restored. I am honored and have grown as a person and blessed that these powerful women allowed me to help and experience their abilities to influence others in a positive manner.

December 11th is a day I will never forget. Usually I would be on my way to gymnastics, but today when both my parents picked me up at school I knew something was wrong. They had tears in their eyes. I immediately asked what was wrong and they explained something terrible had happened to our family friend, William Heard. At the young age of 2 and a half, he had choked on a piece of chicken, and my mom and dad told me he was in bad shape. It turns out that my sweet friend William was not going to make it. We had prayed and cried for him to be okay, but sadly he passed away. This was my first experience with losing someone whom I cared deeply about. William was my little buddy, and I loved him so much. I just could not grasp the fact that something so terrible had happened to him and that I would never get to see him again. I was

devastated and my heart was broken, but I could only imagine the pain his parents and older sister were experiencing. My mom took me to the hospital late that night so I could say goodbye to him. Everyone who knew William loved him. He was so precious and loved tractors. Our close friends, the Heards, were broken. They had so much love and support, but they were broken. They were surrounded by so many family members and friends, but they could not bring William back. The Heard’s turned to God to help them get through this most difficult time. Their faith that God had a bigger and better plan for William led Jamie to become a founding member of Faithfully Restored.

I decided to research and explore small children and death by choking since that is how William passed away. From my research, I gathered that choking is a leading cause of injury and death among children, especially those younger than 4 years of age. The majority of choking related incidents among children are associated with food, coins, and toys (Nationwide Children’s Hospital). According to the policy statement, the AAP recommends warning labels on foods that pose a high choking risk, a recall of food products that pose a significant choking hazard, the establishment of a nationwide food related choking incident surveillance and reporting system, and a commitment from food manufacturers to design new food and redesign existing food to minimize choking risk. (Nationwide Children’s Hospital). The risk of choking depends on the shape, size, and consistency of the item, along with the developmental and behavioral capabilities of the child. In the United States, an average 140 children choke to death each year, and thousands of others end up requiring emergency care after a choking episode (Perry). Reported a few years back by the American Academy of Pediatrics, choking on food causes the death of approximately one child every five days in the United States. Although William Heard choked on chicken, a food most likely to be choked on are grapes. A grape is actually larger than a child’s airways and has a smooth surface, which allows the fruit to form a tight seal when it gets wedged in the airways, so tight that it is very difficult to dislodge without special equipment (Perry). A 5-year old boy choked on a whole grape at an after school club. Even with the first aid medics trying to dislodge the grape and aggressive emergency actions at the hospital the boy suffered from a heart attack and died. Another case involved a 17 month old boy who choked on a grape while eating lunch at home with his family. The child’s parents and paramedics were unsuccessful at dislodging the fruit in time to save his life. He was sadly declared dead after he arrived at the hospital. This is exactly what happened to William. The medics and doctors were unsuccessful in removing the piece of chicken. There are some things that can be done to prevent children from choking on food. One is to keep foods such as grapes, hot dogs, raw carrots or peanuts away from small children. Cut food for young children into smaller pieces no larger than one half inch. Supervise meal times and insist that the children sit down while eating, they should never run, play or lie down with food in their mouths (Perry).

Another source from the New York Department of Health states that choking is the fourth leading cause of unintentional death in children under the age of 5. At least one child dies from choking on food every 5 days and more than 12000 children are taken to a hospital emergency room each year for food choking injuries. It is important to remember that the size of a young child’s trachea is about the size of a drinking straw in diameter.

March 28th is National Choking Awareness Day, making it a perfect time to spotlight this prevention. One father created a non-invasive upper airway clearing device intended to save as many lives as possible. (LifeVac). This device can be used on children and adults. It makes a high powered suction cup that vacuums out the obstruction. LifeVac could be the cause of thousands of lives saved.

Even though these children tragically die, there can be something positive that can be achieved. Willaim Heard passed away, but his heart beats on with the help of organ donations. Many think that organ donations involve older people, but it doesn’t matter the age. Right now, over 1900 children under the age of 18 are on the national transplant waiting list. Over 1700 children received transplants in 2020. In 2020 there were over 860 child organ donors, ranging from newborns to age 17. Over 121 child organ donors were babies under the age of 12 months. Most children under age one are waiting for liver or heart transplants. Most children from 1 to 10 are waiting for a kidney or liver or heart. Organ donations allows people to help others in a greater way. The Heard family is able to stay connected with the little girl who received William’s heart, and are able to hear his heartbeat on knowing that their child helped this other child live on. The terrible loss of a child and the fact that Willaim was able to help someone else with organ donation, in all the helped they received inspired them to help others and their belief turned to God and the want to help others in need.

Heard, Jamie, et al. “Faithfully Restored Women.” Faithfully Restored, www.faithfullyrestoredwomen.com/. “LifeVac Supports National Choking Awareness Day March 28, 2022.” Cision, 15 Mar. 2022, www.yahoo.com/now/lifevac-supports-national-choking-awareness-194000778. html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADalZw2HwFVUlGpkKYGCgu_Bn8zj6inZ8sF7NIFJk0xnG9vk1qJiR2PqD2VSYdp6UZb1w7OzrsN91PL8zFupbFTuw2qWm1wQAasPDXY1KFWWNfOHJyqFFUZlUmFD9Rzh9nI9BXtZaUcqOfiyFrRtqN1E8OVOP9HwfQiV30APBUTS. “Organ Donation and Children.” Health Resources and Services Administration, 2020, www. organdonor.gov/learn/who-can-donate/children. Perry, Susan. “Physicians Warn about Choking Danger to Children from Grapes and Other Foods.” MinnPost, 12 Jan. 2017, www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2017/01/physicianswarn-about-choking-danger-children-grapes-and-other-foods/#:~:text=3%20or%20 younger.-,In%20the%20United%20States%2C%20an%20average%20of%20140%20children%20choke,children%20experience%20permanent%20brain%20damage.

REFLECTION: GRAY FLEETWOOD

FAITHFULLY RESTORED

Throughout the summer internship I was able to help with, I feel like my journey at Faithfully Restored has taught me so much. Along with the work I did, which I enjoyed greatly, I would have to say for me personally, it’s the lessons I learned from these strong women, the organization itself, and the people we cared for that will stick with me forever. First, I realized how truly blessed I am. Sometimes we all get too carried away to actually appreciate all the amazing little and big gifts we have in this world. It is so difficult to see what some people have to go through and how often people have to experience tragedy, but with that, my service experience allowed me to see the strength some of these individuals gain from their tragic experiences. I did my work knowing that this job was going to be hard, but that in the end, I was going to help individuals and their families. I hoped to make an impact in their lives and know that they are not alone and that there is always a shoulder to lean on if needed. The interaction with the individuals themselves and seeing their responses was genuine and are moments I will never forget. I was able to see that just something as small as a care package can actually make a difference in someone’s life. A smile or a hug can make someone feel better. Knowing someone understands and accepts you for who you are and is willing to help you means so much and can go so far in someone’s life. Nothing feels better than walking up to someone’s door to hand them a small gift and leave, knowing you just made someone’s day a little better. I loved the feeling this internship gave me, of allowing people to feel loved and know that they are not alone. I learned that just saying I care makes a huge mark and difference in others lives. Putting others first is extremely rewarding and is something I strive to do more and more each day. Seeing someone in pain smile for the first time in a long time made this internship all worth it. My time at Faithfully Restored has helped me to become a better person. I see the sadness people experience and know that something small can encourage them to keep going and to not give up. I learned that women can be great leaders and accomplish great things for themselves and others. We can all come together and support one another to make this world a little better and a little more loving. I also learned the amazing power that prayer contains. These four women only started out with a prayer for others, but as time has gone on, they have added pieces of their hearts to help make a very successful organization that I know will continue to grow and will be able to help more and more women each and every year.