There are moments when you suddenly realize just how far a simple question can travel. For me, this was definitely one of them. 💚
That beautiful young woman presenting me with this Community Impact Award just happens to be my daughter, Lundyn.
But standing there, I still saw the curious five-year-old little girl who unknowingly helped start all of this.
Years ago, I took Lundyn to the community garden at UF IFAS Extension Pasco County. She explored everything, asked questions and started harvesting vegetables to bring home. That night, she chopped everything up and roasted it with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Side note: it was also the first time I had ever eaten roasted eggplant. 😂 The next day, we started working on our own garden.
And just like that, “Farmer Lundyn” emerged.
What I didn’t realize was that another seed had been planted too. For me.
There wasn’t some grand plan for what came next. A lot of it was serendipity and one simple question:
How can we help?
So we got out into the community. We volunteered. We listened. We asked questions. We learned what families and farmers needed, met people already doing the work, and figured out where we could help.
One relationship led to another.
One program led to another.
And eventually, Access to Fresh grew around that same idea:
Building Community Through Food.
This nomination brought another emotional moment. I had to revisit impact data I hadn’t looked at cumulatively in a long time.
I hit “total.”
I paused.
And yes, I cried. 💚
More than one million servings of fresh produce.
I’m still processing that number. But standing there with Lundyn reminded me that the million—and this award—aren’t about one person. They represent every farmer who grew the food, every volunteer who showed up, every partner who said yes, every family who trusted us, and every friend and supporter who has asked some version of the same question:
How can I help?
That’s why having Lundyn be the one to hand me this recognition meant more than I can probably put into words. The little girl whose curiosity helped start the journey was now standing beside me as I was being recognized for where that journey has led. Talk about full circle.
I’m incredibly grateful to Elevance Health and the Simply the Best Community Impact Awards for this recognition, and naming me a Community Visionary, but even more grateful for the community of people who made it possible.
And, of course, anyone who knows me knows there is usually a Dave Matthews Band song somewhere in the story. 😊
As I’ve reflected on all of this, I keep coming back to Come Tomorrow and one particular reminder:
“let the children run the show.”
Maybe Lundyn’s been doing exactly that all along, she is our Chief Vision Officer.
There is still much more work to do, so we’ll keep asking the question that got us here and dreaming about what is possible:
How can we help? 💚
