”
I don’t do funny; I do earnest,
”
Sherri Stuart explained to the large crowd gathered to honor her
and the other recipients of the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce awards
last Saturday where she was honored as Woman of the Year.
“How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these.” –George Washington Carver
“I don’t do funny; I do earnest,” Sherri Stuart explained to the large crowd gathered to honor her and the other recipients of the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce awards last Saturday where she was honored as Woman of the Year.
It seemed as if half of Gilroy had gathered at San Juan Oaks Golf Club for the 55th Annual Citizen and Business Awards Dinner, which benefited Scholarships for local Gilroy High School graduating students.
Not only does Sherri Stuart save trees (serving on Gilroy’s Parks and Recreation Commission for 11 years), but she writes grant proposals that get results.
Her grants feed the homeless and low-income families (St. Joseph’s Family Center), help promote and support local artists (Theater Angels Art League), and enable teenagers to overcome addiction, abuse, and neglect (Advent Ministries).
When Stuart is not writing grants to benefit non-profit organizations (her day job), she is busy volunteering her time with non-profits (what she does the rest of the time). “Non-profits are a funny business model, one where success is measured not by the success of a tangible product but by there no longer being a need for your services,” Stuart described. “You devoutly hope to go out of business.”
Stuart talked about the delicate balancing act expected of non-profits in keeping donors happily donating while simultaneously meeting the needs of the clients they serve. Stuart made the analogy that compared to the normal business model, non-profits have to perform like the best dancers of all time in that famous quote taken from an old Frank and Ernest comic: “Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, except backwards and in high heels.”
Stuart introduced Daniel at the dinner, a foster child she has taken under her wing like he is her own son. He is the most personal expression of her compassion, which extends to all those around her. I remember one time someone asked her why she would go so out of her way to give someone else a helping hand. I never forgot her words, “Because it’s what I believe in. We should live our faith in real ways. We’re here to help each other.”
When you have Stuart backing you, you find yourself going above and beyond, just as she does herself. She is responsible for my becoming president of the board at St. Joseph’s Family Center, for instance. Her leadership and mentoring convinced me to step outside of my comfort zone and give something new a try.
Her current project is to build support for the upcoming St. Patrick’s Dinner on March 15, which benefits the work of St. Joseph’s Family Center. With our present worries about recession, it is harder than ever to raise the necessary funding to help those coming to SJFC for help, including 300 new low income families in the last 3 months. Stuart will be out there selling tickets and encouraging support as she always is, believing that most of us are closer to needing a helping hand than we might like to think. If we are not there for others, who will be there for us when we need compassion?
David Cox, Director of SJFC summed up the recognition of Gilroy’s 2007 Woman of the Year best when he said of Stuart, “For all you do for others, it is so appropriate that you are finally recognized for your compassion.”
