For some people it takes a lifetime for anyone to see their greatness and impact on the people around them. For others, it may only take a small gesture or even just a conversation to change someone’s life. Jeremy Sturgill, also know as “Lumpy” to many of the Bay Area natives, showed his greatness in his short but never forgotten 35 years of life. His unexpected death was a tragedy to the community and of course his lovely family as well. He was the owner of the famous Lumpys Diners in a few cities of the Bay Area. Throughout the years lumpy showed his greatness and love for his community many times. Always having fundraisers and supporting anyone and everyone that he could. His thoughtfulness never went unnoticed. That is why I am writing about him today. Even tho he has passed I will never forget what he personally did for my family as well. Almost 4 years ago now Lumpy had a fundraiser going for a family in need at Christmas time. At the time, my family was in desperate need and we weren’t able to give my little sister the Christmases that she wanted. I was 17 and a senior in high school. Even being a little embarrassed I went ahead and wrote a letter to him telling him about my families situation. All I wanted was to see my family have real smiles on their faces on Christmas morning. Within a few days I received an email back saying he would like to meet with me. The day had come and he told me that he wanted to help my family on Christmas and make sure that we had everything we needed. That Christmas changed my families life. He took me grocery shopping and bought us gift cards for food, paid for our bills for the month, bought my little sister the presents she asked for from “Santa”,my mother a beautiful necklace for me to give her, and lastly a Christmas Tree that we still put up in my house every year. Lumpy helping me surprise my mother with all of these things is something that shows more than just greatness, but someone with a huge heart and true love for his community. Jeremy Sturgill will never be forgotten and he will forever be missed by my family as well. Now it is our turn as a community to give back and show our appreciation of his greatness and give to his family like he did to ours and those around us.
Taylor Swift is not only a superstar singer and actress but is also a humanitarian. She takes the term humanitarian to a completely different level and shows people what it is like to be truly selfless. From the beginning of her career, Taylor’s fans have always been close to her heart. She values those fans that have stuck by her throughout her career. Being an artist that made a drastic musical switch midst her career and maintained her high level of celebrity shows how truly popular she is.
In recent years Taylor has reached a new level of fame and not for her vocal abilities but rather for her kindhearted gestures that she makes to her fans and those in need. She is often seen looking at fans social media sites and responding to those people whom are going through hardships or need a little spirit in their lives. This past Christmas, or “Swiftmas” as it became known, Taylor found deserving fans on social media site Tumblr and sent them huge packages of gifts for the holidays. These gifts were not only hand picked by Taylor along her world tour but also accompanied with handwritten notes. This is only one example of the humanitarian work that Taylor has done for her fans. It is very rare to go through a week without hearing about Taylor’s generosity to her fans, her community, and her country. If other celebrities took note of Taylor’s kind heart and applied it to their lives the world would be a much better place.
Life has a habit of throwing situations at us that leave us feeling dissatisfied with where we’re at in life. Our success is determined by how we manage to take it upon ourselves to turn these negative situations into learning experiences that actually better us as opposed to growing complacent. Look at singer/songwriter Shakira, she’s literally the definition of self-made. By the time she was 8 years old she had written her first song and by the age of 10 she had been competing in both local and national talent contests. Shakira released her first album when she was 14 years old. Her album had been successful, especially for her age. She had received wide recognition in her home country of Colombia, but the goal was to become international. In an attempt to reach these goals, she had turned her focus to her acting career, however, her heart is in the music and it wasn’t long until she went back to recording. When Shakira got back into the studio, she took control over the direction of her music. She mixed both her Colombian and Arabic backgrounds to create a beautifully blended sound on her next album which started out as a slow seller, but it eventually became number one on the charts in EIGHT different countries! She continued to take control over her music career and prosper further. However, she wasn’t satisfied with bettering her own life, but those of children all over the world. At the age of 18, she founded the Pies Descalzos (Barefoot) foundation which is currently providing education and nutrition to over six thousand less fortunate children in Colombia. In late 2011 she launched projects in Haiti and South Africa. She went from growing up in a not so privileged home, to being one of the most distinguished pop stars in the world who does everything in her power to help those who are born into situations that aren’t the greatest. Life is what you make it and if you ask me, Shakira has mastered the art of living life to the fullest.
