INSPIRED – ISSUE NO. 375

You may ask, why have I chosen this word for the title of this week's digest? "Inspired" means to have a particular cause or influence. It may cause someone to do something extraordinary or create an exceptional idea. This past weekend, Healthmark participated in our 3rd Annual Food Kitchen at the Spirit of Hope Trinity Episcopal Church located in Detroit, Michigan. The main reason this takes place is because of Keith Devlin, our Shipping Supervisor. He has been doing volunteer work at the church and has asked his fellow workers to come and support the church's mission in help serve the people of Detroit in any way they can. This past Saturday, many employees (along with friends and family members) took time to come and serve over 150 people a great lunch (baked chicken, mashed potatoes, baked beans, salad and drinks). What is also nice is that our company donates all of the food for this event to help keep costs down for the Church. I was able to bring my wife, sister-in-law and my 89-year-old mother-in-law (Mama Lafata). We all worked together, in fact you will see in a picture a group peeling over 50 pounds of potatoes. This is not Keith's only project, all year long he reminds us about the church's shoe drive with a poster on our bulletin board. His sister runs their community farms and it is one of the best in the city of Detroit. Helping others is something Keith and his family practice everyday. As we all know, all types of groups from Rotary, to our own professional and church groups are looking for volunteers to give up some time to make a difference. Whether it is working on a weekend, serving food, being a board member on one of the professional societies or rescuing animals, we all are asked to make a difference in order to help each other out. Keith I want to thank you for INSPIRING me to find time to give back and make a difference. I know my family members want to come to our next event. You have inspired them and Mama LaFata said she will bring her knife so she can peel those potatoes faster next time. To our readers of the Digest, please respond to this email with a note on how you give back to help make your community a better place. I will put together a short update in the weeks to come. Take care and go out today and make a difference in somebody's life.