Editor’s Note: April 2017
You get to meet a lot of people as editor of a publication, especially one like Frontdoors. I’ve packed a lot of new acquaintances into the two-month window on the job, from local non-profit pioneers to entertainment and sports legends. A common, unsurprising thread: people are passionate about giving back, whether it helps fight a disease, feed the hungry or bring folks together.
Just last month:
• As a member of a media panel, I met a roomful of inspiring business-savvy women from Conscious Connections, founded by Kristi Hall, and took some story pitches from audience members (one story will appear in the coming weeks on the Frontdoors website). After serving businesses and non-profits for almost two decades, Kristi dreamed of connecting like-minded women so they could learn and benefit from each other. Today her network tallies 6,000 women.
• In covering Celebrity Fight Night, which benefits the fight against Parkinson’s disease, I asked red-carpet guests what Muhammad Ali meant to them and was surprised and enlightened by each response. As Ali’s wife Lonnie told me as the night wrapped up, “There’s such a love in this room. Tonight especially, that love is very evident. I know Muhammad’s here tonight.”
• I got to tell the story of Waste NOT, which reached out to Frontdoors to let us know about its 30th I didn’t know much about what they did but I was glad I connected with Dee Mitten, its president and CEO. Her organization operates out of a tiny office tucked in a Scottsdale senior center. Waste NOT does a lot with a little. Its vehicles sometimes pick up 20,000 pounds of excess food a day and bring it to those who need it. Better that than its usual destination – a landfill.
Keep your stories coming. We want to tell them. Reach out to us at editor@frontdoorsmedia.com.
