Help is on the way, Hodges!

Hi, y'all. My name is Lauren Byrd, and I’d like to tell you about my best friend. Take Leslie Knope and mix in the best traits from the gals in Steel Magnolias along with a hearty helping of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and perhaps a sass-mouthed Mother Theresa, and you’d have Joan Hodges. She’s started and championed several GoFundMe campaigns along with doing any and everything to help her family, friends, community, and country. A few of the 3,000 masks she sewed and donated during the COVID pandemic are part of the #freemaskforeveryone exhibits at the Smithsonian. On her 50th birthday, she conducted a book drive for kids, and her work with Moody Middle School students supporting the Daily Plenty garnered a Youth Philanthropy award. She's an amazing mother to her son Cole, a loving wife and best friend to her husband Art, a loyal sister, and a beloved daughter to Mary Almond.

That’s our pal, Joan. She sees a need and acts, and now I am compelled to do the same for her. I hope you join me.

Joan taught English, drama, public speaking, reading intervention, and more as a public school teacher for 22 years in VA and 6 years in Japan with the Dept. of Defense. She was a National Board Certified Teacher, Chesterfield Teacher of the Year, and an R.E.B. Excellence in Teaching award recipient. In addition to academics, Joan built vibrant theater arts and Forensics programs in her schools along with directing Talent Shows, pep rallies, and sponsoring school-wide charitable service activities including several Relay for Life events to benefit The American Cancer Society. That woman created magic on stage and in her classroom. Words cannot express how vital she was to the schools fortunate enough to have her on staff, and thousands of students were positively impacted by her devoted teaching. Joan retired this July and recently completed a dream renovation project with her husband Art. They restored a historic Henrico, VA schoolhouse to become their forever home. How fitting that she lives in a “little old schoolhouse.”

To know her is to love her, and chances are, she loves you more.

And now, she needs our help. As many of you know, after several months of declining health and uncertainty, she has been diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer and will need aggressive treatment and care. Even with insurance, the cost to battle cancer will significantly impact or deplete the savings she’s earned as a public school teacher. Chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy, medications, nutritional therapy, and any and every type of resource is an option with our help. Joan’s a voracious fighter, and every dollar raised will go toward her treatment as well as ease the economic burden of missed work. Joan is facing this challenge with hope and an attitude of gratitude. She has never given up on a student or a cause, and those of us who love her will not give up on her. So many people have asked to help her, so let’s do it, let’s go! “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”

Thank you for supporting Joan and her family. She was reluctant to ask for help, but that’s what friends are for, right? Please share and promote this wherever and whenever possible. We’ll keep you posted with a progress report soon!