New Truck Engine for Mary Frances Coleman

Hi everyone! Some, perhaps a lot, of my friends either know or know of Mary Frances. She was a manager, boss, and friend of mine for many years in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, those many years ago when some of us were working for Granville Towers Dining Services. We all (okay most of us) have moved on, but there is still a bond and the shared experiences there that are a part of us. Since then, she's moved back to the Appalachian area of North Carolina and run her own restaurant, along with other things. However, life happens and it's been happening pretty hard for her. A serious car accident severed a nerve root, and the recovery process meant relearning walking and a lot of lower body neurological issues. She closed the restaurant, and has been making ends meet the best she can. Now her truck engine has blown up and the best or worst case scenario are both beyond her means, here close to the New Year and Christmas.

For my birthday, I'm asking my friends (real and Facebook) and family to donate in the spirit of the season and charity to help out a very real person who was a positive influence on me, and who is both humble and quite stubborn about asking for help on her own. I obviously offer my own voucher of her own honesty and thriftiness, for those of you don't already know of her trustworthy and giving nature.

The goal is pretty ambitious, at $3,500, but the money will be given directly to her as the fundraiser's beneficiary regardless of the final amount reached to help cover the cost of truck engine/labor, supplemented by her also baking pies to help pay for the cost of labor. Because Mary Francis is the kind of person who will bake rhubarb pies to help pay off her debts even when she herself has trouble carrying groceries up the stairs.

I will be running the fundraiser through January 7th as a goal to try to have the truck repaired, and welcome multiple small donations given over time as well as one time donations. We'll all do our best, and at least in a small way I hope we can reinforce the idea that helping out people who need it is one of the binding agents that make us human beings.

To reiterate, I'm setting up this fundraiser for Mary Frances Coleman of North Carolina, who will be the only one able to withdraw funds from the donation account once it's set up. I will not access the money. I am doing this with Mary Frances's consent, as I did not want to talk about her life with strangers (to her) unless she was okay with it. If you read this far then I really want to say thank you even for that. I hope you'll help me celebrate this season with an act of charity that helps a really deserving person.

Cheers and Happy New Year!

Brenton