Bring Joy Garcia-Roughton Some Joy

Today I’m asking you to help a family that not only needs some kindness, but truly deserves it. You don’t have to give much, even a few dollars will help so much. And if you can’t give at all, I hope you will share this and help me to extend a hand to someone who has done so much for other people in her life.


If you’re reading this, you probably already know and love Joy. If you’re reading this, there is a good chance Joy made you custom bows for your own fundraiser and refused to take any money for them. There’s a chance she made your daughter a bow featuring her favorite cartoon character, or one for you featuring your favorite pro-wrestler. There’s a chance you spent $20 in her shop and then she turned around and spent $25 in yours.


If you’re reading this and you don’t know Joy, let me tell you a little bit about her:

Joy Garcia-Roughton is just about the kindest, most generous person I have ever known. “She would give you the shirt off her back” is often an exaggeration but Joy literally would. She would take it off, fold it neatly, wrap it in colorful tissue paper and mail it to you with a few pieces of your favorite candy and a handwritten note.


I could make you a laundry list of ways Joy has helped and supported me over the years - from donating bows to fundraisers for a cancer non-profit I work with to keeping an eye out for my son’s hard-to-find favorite cereal, to lighting a candle for my father every year, remembering someone who I lost and holding him in her heart as if he was her own father. And I’m just one person among hundreds who call Joy a friend. Imagine if we all told our stories how many there would be.

(One of Joy's bows featured on WWE Raw)

Joy and her husband Bob have raised two incredible kids. The kind of kids who ask for donations to their local animal shelter instead of birthday gifts. No, really. They do.


Recently Joy and her family have been subjected to an unbelievable series of misfortunes and tragedies, starting in November with the passing of Bob’s father. The family barely had time to grieve when Joy’s brother died suddenly and unexpectedly on Christmas day.

(Joy with her brother Al) 

Just a few weeks later, Bob found himself in the emergency room where he was diagnosed with carotid artery dissection - an uncommon condition that can result in a stroke. The hospital kept Bob for several days to determine the best treatment - managing stress being at the top of the list. Losing a parent is devastating, and having it immediately followed with a loss in your wife’s family would be almost too much to bear.


Unfortunately, there was more. While he was in the hospital, Bob’s mother passed away. Now here is Joy, still mourning her father-in-law and her brother, missing work while her husband is in the hospital. And now this.


Bob is a tattoo artist, and has not been cleared to go back to work. Meanwhile, his condition has left him in need of Joy’s care - he has already ended up back in the e.r. twice when trying to take on too much has gotten the best of him. Joy used all of her paid time off between her brother’s death and Bob’s hospital stay and has been forced to take a leave of absence as she continues to care for Bob and their two children.


Joy would never in a million years ask anyone for help. I’m the one asking you for help. Please give whatever you can to help me take one thing off this family’s plate. If you believe in karma in any form, this is the time when Joy’s kindness and generosity should come full circle.

I plan on working with other people Joy has touched with her kindness and generosity to create reward levels for donations. More updates on that to come. 


Thank you so much for reading this.