" If someone is in need and you have it, then give it."

My mother Jackie was my inspiration to start Jackie’s Hands. She was a single parent to five children. One of the many challenges she faced was finding a job with shifts that fit a single parent's schedule due to the lack of affordable childcare. Despite her many struggles, she showed strength and perseverance because of her faith in God. Jackie made sure we were loved, made sure our wants and needs were met, and still found time to help others. My mother’s passion for loving others as yourself, was instilled in us. If someone is in need and you have it, then give it. I admire my mother as a parent and a woman. I founded Jackie’s Hands to honor my mother and to keep her legacy alive and to make sure that single parents and others are met in the middle of their struggles with help and support to overcome.

I may not have always understood my Mother, but I always loved and appreciated her and even wanted to be like her. I was always in awe of my mother and the fact my mother never met a stranger she couldn't have a conversation with. She had a heart of gold and would give anyone the shirt off her back or the last dollar out of her pocket. Despite having an autoimmune disease for more than twenty years, undergoing dialysis treatments, a kidney transplant, and anti-rejection medicine 3 times a day, her faith never faltered, nor did her desire put others' needs ahead of her own. There is a saying that you never know what someone is going through. Looking at my mother, you may not have known all she was going through, still, she made sure that the food bank at the church was full and she could always be found helping the neighborhood kids at the church tutoring program where she volunteered for over 20 years. Her mission in life was to serve the Lord with the gifts God enabled her with through her dying days. My mission is to serve God and humanity with the gifts my mother instilled in me.  Jackie’s Hands will be that bridge to help those who are less fortunate and will enable me to carry on her legacy through my hands.