|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Power of the Heels Foundation recently honored women who have ‘gone beyond’ at their “Women Who Have Gone Beyond the Unexpected” virtual event. In addition to Loni Paige who spoke about the Fyre Festival and Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine-Cava, Shelly Tygielski, founder of Pandemic of Love, was honored.
Shelly has been featured on BBC, NBC, CNN, Forbes, Fox News and ABC, among others.
She has garnered support from many of the world’s influencers and celebrities like Kelly Clarkson, Debra Messing, Kristen Bell and more. When she received a call asking if she was available to speak to President Biden, she thought it was a scam and nearly hung up before she ended up on the phone with the President.
Pandemic of Love is a global, grassroots, volunteer-led formalized mutual aid community.
“Mutual aid” is a voluntary reciprocal exchange of resources and services based on the principle that members of a community should feel responsible to care for one another and aspire to develop a community safety net where no individual goes hungry, no individual is without shelter and no individual feels alone.
The organization was started around a kitchen table on March 14, 2020 by Tygielski, a Florida meditation teacher as the COVID-19 pandemic began to force closures in communities across the world.
While Pandemic of Love was initially formed to take care of the financial needs that people in need faced due to pandemic-related income loss, the organization has been expanding through local micro-community chapters to meet the different needs that are arising in this unprecedented time that we are living through.
Teams of volunteers are partnering with brands and organizations, assisting communities in need, and joining forces with global movements with the intention of creating sustainable, formalized mutual aid communities all across the world, long after the pandemic is over.
What started with a simple post has become a worldwide movement of Pandemic of Love, with more than 1200 volunteers, over one million five hundred matches and over $40 million dollars in direct help.
Beyond all the matches and the economic transactions, there are many stories that have captured Shelly’s attention, but one in particular was so special that she decided to share how this pandemic has taught us many lessons, especially that kindness overcomes everything.
“My name is Marshall Jones lll. I am a 55 year- old grandfather from Greensboro North Carolina. I have been living here my entire lifetime. I work in construction and I have been lucky during the pandemic because things were already tight, but I was grateful to be squeaking by every month at a time when so many people are suffering. Especially here in my community.
You matched me with a really nice young man named Jacob from San Diego, California. He is a student and working to get his doctorate degree. I was never a good student, so I don’t really know what it is like. We had many conversations and he was kind enough to agree to help me with my rent. I was behind in December because I got sick and had to stay home. If we don’t work, we don’t get paid.
I am writing to tell you that your program is something special. It does more than help people who need help paying for bills, but it really helps to change people. And even old dogs like me.
God bless you all. Marshall “
For more information, visit poweroftheheelsfoundation.org or gm@gladysmezrahi.com
