Unsung Heroes of Georgetown University – Unsung Heroes

Unsung Hero #33 – Juan Noriega, Lead Gardener at Georgetown University

UnsungHero — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 21:45:47 +0000

“One night, my son went to a party with his friends just to have some fun. Everyone went in one car and they were all drinking – including the person that was driving. The driver crashed into another car and my son along with 2 others died on the spot… He was only 21 years old. He went to school for business at Montgomery College. He had a big future ahead of him. After he died, everything changed. I am working to support my 17-year-old daughter. She’s thinking about going to California for college. Honestly, I don’t want her to go away from home but I have no choice. She needs to study and get a good education. I’d like to have a better life for myself. ..I just want to see my daughter successful. Nothing would make me happier.”

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Unsung Hero #32 – Eric Reed, Master Police Officer at Georgetown University Police Department

UnsungHero — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 21:45:17 +0000

“Georgetown is a relatively safe school. However, we are an open campus so things can definitely happen that we may not expect. Within the first 6 months of my time here, we had the armed robbery suspect that my team had to apprehend. One of the Georgetown students left the business school and was on his way to the Leavey center to get some coffee when he was approached by 2 individuals. The student was held at gunpoint and the individuals demanded credit cards, money, phone, everything… I was the initial officer that took the report. We sent out the Hoya alert email to all students. The next afternoon, I got a tip from a student that the suspect was right outside of the Credit Union wearing the same clothes. So we had officers wear plain clothes and approach him with caution.. Once we were able to get the innocent bystanders out of the way, the officers approached the subject and got him in custody at which point they recovered a loaded firearm.The most important thing is that no one gets hurt. This kind of situation is not very common but these things do happen every once in a while and we have to always be ready. That’s why I love this job. Yes we are in uniform, yes we have a badge on, and yes people think that we look grumpy sometimes. But deep down we really just want to keep the students safe.”

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UNSUNG HERO UPDATE: Frankie Capers, Food & Service Worker at Georgetown University

UnsungHero — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 21:44:37 +0000

“I’m blessed to be celebrating my 57th birthday! I don’t have a real birthday this year because I was born on 29th of February which is on a leap year.

..If I had 1 wish, If I had a genie bottle, I would go on a trip to Florida and I would just relax. Maybe go on a vacation to Disney or something and just relax with my grandson. He’s 11 years old. That’s my dream, just to go sometime this summer and let him see something else other than DC.

I took care of my mom for 12 years when she had Alzheimer’s and I had to take care of my dad because he got sick as well. I was flying back from Washington DC to Memphis Tennessee to North Carolina to take care of them. When my mom passed away, I always said that after this is over – I just want to go on vacation for a few days. I just want to rest, eat, and sleep some more. I haven’t had a vacation in 12 to 13 years.”
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Students will be surprising Ms. Frankie with a birthday cake and balloons at 4pm today in Einstein Bagels. Let’s also surprise her with this fundraiser and help make her vacation wish come true!

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Unsung Hero #31 – Mary Thomas, Facilities Worker at Georgetown University

UnsungHero — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 21:43:52 +0000

“Do you want to know my age? I am 65 years old! I shock a lot of people when I say that. I have no high blood pressure, no diabetes – nothing! I try to be active and watch what I eat so I’ve had good health. Cancer took away 3 of my siblings and my mom also passed away but thank God I still have my dad. He is 92 years old! He is also very healthy and he still drives. I always go back home to North Carolina to see him because he’s been a good dad to me growing up. He raised me to be responsible and told me that I should always keep the Lord close to me. He’s been my best friend and I try to have the same kind of relationship with my kids.”

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Unsung Hero #30 – Cheung Gunho (张官好), Food & Service Worker at Leo O’Donovan Dining Hall

UnsungHero — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 21:43:09 +0000

“I don’t have much of a big hope for myself. I only hope my daughter can find a good husband to marry, to have a happy family, and that they will treat their parents well. That will be enough for me.
Just like many new immigrants from China, we had a big dream that we could make a fortune when we came to America; the dream shattered after we arrived. The reality is that we have to work long hours day and night long, mostly in a restaurant. We work so hard, but only get by. So now I’ve adjusted my hopes to have a stable life. That’s good enough for me. I don’t have too many things to think about.”
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也没有什么大希望吧，我就希望我的女儿找到一个好先生，有一个幸福的家庭，善待父母，这样就好了。像许多中国移民一样，梦想着来美国的时候要赚很多钱，来到后才觉得不可能。移民来到这里从事的大多是餐馆行业，每天都要工作十几个小时，很辛苦。所以我现在对自己的工作现状很满意。过的好就可以了，只要每个月收支平衡就足够了，我不会去奢望其他了。
For the full interview, visit https://www.facebook.com/exposureredefined

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Unsung Hero #29 – Ellen Pittman, Food & Service Worker at Leo O’Donovan Dining Hall

UnsungHero — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 21:42:38 +0000

“Sometimes when I see the students sneezing and coughing, I go downstairs to make them some hot tea with honey and lemon packs..I tell them to get lots of rest and I pray that they get better the next day. I like seeing the kids happy. I give some of them birthday presents and Christmas presents and If I could afford it, I’d give a gift to every one of them. There used to be an employee appreciation board on the wall and the kids would always put my name on the board and write really nice things about me. Sometimes they text our managers and tell them that we make their day better. That’s the kind of thing that keeps me here. It always comes back to the students. I’ve been here for over 40 years already and I treat them like I would want someone to treat MY child if they go away to college. When they come to campus for the first time, they’re afraid because it’s a new environment. I always try to encourage them to never stop learning and growing..”

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Unsung Hero #28 – Alvaro Barberena, Bus Driver at Georgetown University

UnsungHero — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 21:42:00 +0000

“Sometimes the students say, ‘I’ve always wanted to thank you because you always say hi to me every morning with a smile.’ I tell them about my family and my 3 Pit Bulls – I have 2 male and 1 female that I adopted from the Humane Society in DC 7 years ago. Their names are Rumor, Chunky Monkey, and Remy Martin – like the drink! Rumor was found roaming the streets in DC. People thought she was pregnant but it turns out that she had a tumor in one of her kidneys. They couldn’t save her kidney. Chunky Monkey was abused by his previous owner and people found him on the street just like they found Remy Martin.. I had to work extra hard to get him to behave because he was afraid of almost everything. This is what happens when people abuse animals… Pit Bulls are misunderstood. My wife didn’t want me to get any of them because of the stereotypes – they fight and bite. But I don’t blame the breed – the problem is the person behind the leash that trains them. I consider my dogs as part of my family and they wouldn’t harm anyone.”

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#UnsungHero Update – Umberto “Suru” Ripai, Food & Service Worker at Leo O’Donovan Dining Hall

UnsungHero — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 21:41:25 +0000

“I am grateful to the students for everything that they did for me [to raise the money] and making it possible to see my family. I’ve been thinking a lot and I don’t think that right now is the best time to travel back home to South Sudan. There is a lot of problems going on over there right now and I may be safer here in the United States this year. But when the time comes and I am ready to go, I will get in touch with my nephew down there and set everything up. I need to call him to help arrange the trip. New things are coming..I turned 64 years old recently and soon I will have to decide if I want to stay here or go back home to live after I retire. I don’t want to retire for a while so I still have some time to think about it..”
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** With a goal of raising $2,000 for round trip tickets to reunite Suru with his family after 45 years, we raised $6,031 ($5,458 after Gofundme’s fees) – which will strictly be used to support Suru’s trip. The Unsung Heroes team will put his funds in a separate account and will work with him whenever he is ready to prepare for the trip. Stay tuned for our next #UnsungHero update with Oneil Batchelor!

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Unsung Hero #27 – Dorothy Lewis, Facilities Night Worker at Georgetown University Medical Center

UnsungHero — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 21:40:53 +0000

“One of my co-workers passed away a few years ago. The day that she passed away was one of the saddest days of my life. I know they say time heals all wounds but it still hurts. We worked together for about 10 years. If you knew her, you would’ve loved her! She liked to party, she knew how to have fun and she enjoyed her life. When we found out that she passed away, no one wanted to believe it.. I couldn’t believe it. She had multiple aneurisms in her brain which lead to her death. Sometimes I ask myself, why do bad things happen to good people? I know that maybe it’s because the Lord has something better prepared for them up in heaven but it’s hard. I made new friends which helped heal the pain. I kept myself busy just trying to take one day at a time. But WHY did it happened to someone so young? Losing anybody is hard but it’s different when they’re close to you.”

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Unsung Hero #26 – Luis Martinez, Facilities Night Worker at Georgetown University Medical Cente

UnsungHero — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 21:40:06 +0000

“I tell my son not to worry about the bills because that’s mami and papi’s responsibility. [I tell him] his only responsibility is school. He always talks about how he wants to be an archaeologist…he loves nature and he can pronounce the name of any dinosaur that you can think of! I get so happy when I hear about his goals because he is only 10 years old. I wasn’t able to spend as much time with him when he was growing up because I was always working. But now when I get a day off – after I catch up on sleep, I try to spend every minute with him. And he can tell you that whatever time we spend together is QUALITY time. And I cherish every minute of it..”

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