Help Susan Jackson Get On The Road Again!

Hey everyone! You know me but you haven't had the opportunity to meet and get to know the wonderful woman who is the object of this fundraiser ~ Susan Jackson. That's her in the photo above. If you were at Homecoming (and listening - lol), you may have heard me mention her at the reception on Thursday night. Let me tell you a bit about Susan and why I felt led to create this fundraiser for her.

Susan lives in Tyrell County, NC, near the NC Coast and has a husband and four children. She and I met on an Outlander fan group back in 2015. She discovered that we had a mutual friend and that's where our friendship began. Since that time, Susan and I have become soul sisters. I feel as though I have known her forever and we think so much alike, it's scary, truly. That should scare you also knowing there's another person who thinks like me! :-)

Susan helped me start the Outlander North Carolina Clan FB group back in 2017 and was my first admin. She also helped me start the Outlander North Carolina FB page, the ONC Designs FB store and page, and she helped Carolyn and I start the NC Sassenach Tours FB page. Many of the posts you see in the Outlander North Carolina Clan FB group and the various pages I have are by Susan but she doesn't get the credit nor does she want it. She seems to thrive in the background helping me accomplish the many things I need to do. She is chief guardian and detective of the ONC Clan FB group. I can count on her to catch most of all of the inappropriate or unrelated posts or comments. In fact, we often say we should rename her Sherlock Holmes. She is the go-to admin for all the other admins when a problem, issue or question arises.

Susan is the unsung hero of Homecoming - an event she has helped to put on and organize since its inception in 2018 but has never been able to attend. Never once. Many of the things we all get to enjoy at Homecoming are because Susan had some type of role in it. I can't begin to tell you how important she is to me and have said many times that I would not be able to do what I do without her. I mean that with my whole heart and mind. And she does these things because she's my friend, receiving nothing in return - except my continuous questions about something I've forgotten or something I need for her to do for me if she has time.

She always finds the time, by the way. And if she doesn't know how to do something, she learns how to do it. She is the queen of spreadsheets and “tries” to keep me organized. She keeps all of the vital Homecoming & Springtime information up to date so that I can look at it at any time with full assurance that everything is right. She answers questions from attendees and hopeful attendees, records ticket purchases, payments, and emails attendee balances and answer their general questions, among many other things. She and I alone reviewed all the workshop registrations and processed the many “fixes” that had to be made, taking nearly a month to do so. These are just some of the things she does that you guys never see but are vital to making the event a success. For another example, she designed the beautiful program that was in your swag bags at Homecoming. The stickers and decals in your swag bag were also designed by Susan. If you look at the ONC Designs store, you will find many of her designs on the items there. Some of you probably purchased a tee, a hoodie or some other item with her design on it to wear or use at Homecoming. In fact, that’s what she was doing the day I set up this fundraiser - designing things for the store.

So, why the fundraiser? Susan works part time as a virtual assistant for a realtor out of her home. She is the only breadwinner for her family as her husband is disabled. Susan is also the only source of transportation for her family and has school and work drop offs/pickups everyday for her youngest son and daughter who still live in the home. Two weeks ago, Susan’s only working vehicle died from a broken timing belt and resulting engine damage. The cost for repair would be as much as buying another used vehicle and this is money they simply do not have. Since this happened, her oldest daughter has been leaving her car with Susan and catching a ride to work with a friend. As you know, this can’t go on forever and her daughter’s car is not always there for her to use.

I told you all of that about the amazing Susan Jackson to ask this? Would you be able to participate in this fundraiser to get her back on the road with a dependable vehicle? A donation of any amount would be sincerely appreciated. By the way, she has no idea I’m doing this.

Many, many thanks for whatever you can do.

Love from your Homecoming host,

Beth