#TogethernessTeam Women’s Edition Melissa Parker

Service, sisterhood and self-development. Today we introduce the beautiful and talented Miss Gracie Pfaff. “Gracie is the reigning Miss Earth USA Eco 2023 and has been competing in pageants since she was 18 years old. Gracie is a nonprofit founder, digital marketing consultant, public speaker, and model. She founded Harvest107 almost 10 years ago with the mission to prevent hunger and malnutrition by creating sustainable food sources in food-desert communities. Outside of her job, she loves to write music, go rock-climbing, and train her two Dobermans. Pageantry helped combine Gracie’s passion for giving back and glamour, and now she uses her platform to encourage people of all ages to follow your dreams!”

Gracie met Melissa through The Parker Foundation; she volunteered as a Buddy at several of sports events and fundraisers, most recently helping at the first annual “Sunday on the River” charity event this past April. She is always a ray of sunshine, just the sweetest soul but she’s also a powerhouse using her passion and gifts to make a positive change in our world.

We are excited to share our second conversation from September 2022 with West Shore High School student and Parker Foundation Peer Buddy Youth Ambassador - Arya Jathal. From the positive impacts of service on our youth, to the importance of bringing people of all abilties together - we hear from a teen perspective how these experiences have shaped her life and helped her overcome her own challenges. Arya shares how her parents have greatly influenced her over the years, as well as the Pakistani female Nobel Peace Prize laureate that inspires her to to reach for more. When asked, Arya offers words of wisdom to her peers that are important lessons for people of all ages. Hosted by Parker Foundation Co-Founder Melissa Parker, and previous Parker Foundation Program Director, Julia Barney - who recaps the importance of the non-profit's "Be a Buddy Initiative" on building inclusive programs through exisitng community resources, as well as our annual Be a Buddy 5K race and Family Health and Safety Expo.

Welcome to Season 2 of the Togetherness Team - Women's Edition Podcast; Melissa's first guest is Kathleen Bendiksen, Founder of Love Can Cross Oceans, a Brevard County based non-profit providing aid to women and children of the Ukraine. Kathleen and her husband Magnus always wanted to have a large family; little did they know the road they would take to get there would be full of ups and downs. Many years after they had their first child, with the help of Love Can Cross Oceans ministry, and a trip to the Ukraine, they finally became a family of 6! Kathleen later faced a serious illness - as she prayed, she received a message from above, and knew she was called to a higher purpose - to give back to a country that she had learned to love, when they needed it most. This is a powerful, inspirational story of one Mom's journey of timing and faith, as she grew her ministry to a non-profit that has provided over 18,000lbs. of food and supplies to the people of Ukraine during this challenging time and helped to give refuge to women and children that have fled the country.

October 2021: Parker Foundation Co-Founder Melissa Parker and Program Director Julia Barney sit down to continue the discussion about the Be a Buddy initiative and the Be a Buddy 5K race taking place each October during Bullying Prevention Month. In this episode, we introduce our newest Parker Foundation Youth Ambassador Arya Jathal, a 10th grade student at Westshore High School who has stepped up in a big way to serve her community and inspire other students to do the same.

Melissa Parker and Julia Barney continue their discussion about The Parker Foundation's "Be a Buddy" program, and how being a Champion Against Bullying Organization has positvely impacted their community and inspired their annual 5K Race held during October, or National Bullying Prevention Month. Through these experiences they have helped share resources from PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center to motivate other individuals and organizations across the United States to become a "Champion" for their communities!

Melissa Parker and Julia Barney follow up from last week and continue chatting about their Be a Buddy program through The Parker Foundation for Autism and Child Development; their guest today via Zoom is Terry Parks, Recreation Program Coordinator in the Brevard County Parks and Recreation Department - and their newest #TogethernessTeam Hero. Terry shares his background, why inclusion is so important, and how he is helping to integrate adaptive basketball and sports programs in his community.