bottam

Why I Participate

A marketer by training, and an entrepreneur by nature. I have always been passionate about helping other people and speaking out against things that are "unfair" and loathe inequity. These values where instilled in me by my mother and grandmother, who insisted that part of our responsibility as human beings was to help those less fortunate. As a child we lived in Spain during the Franco era and in the Dominican Republic, my mother always had a plate of food ready for anyone who came by the house and asked. One of my childhood memories is working at an orphanage where my job was to simply "hold" the babies..... it was heartbreaking for me to think that those children did not have a mom, and I always wanted to do more.... I guess you could say that the desire to help others is in my DNA, and my favorite area of advocacy has been helping kids, specifically in this country. I have regularly volunteered at several organizations, and on several film projects about homelessness, food shelters and Childhood Hunger. Most recently I have been volunteering at "Ronald McDonald House" and at "Share Our Strength". Last year, as part of the 20th Anniversary of "Share Our Strength" - Taste of The Nation in Atlanta" I produced this video with the help of some colleagues and friends - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxXApWyDbpE