How Will Women Save the World?
Let us count the ways …
* This blog is part of Absolute Love Publishing’s ongoing series celebrating Women’s History Month and the book that honors women everywhere,”Women Will Save the World.”
Wisdom
Sue Lee
“I have a zest for life that is unstoppable.”
Sue Lee is a Life Management Skills educator and the creator of “I Believe in Me!” a DVD for preschoolers, which received two national recognitions – a Parents’ Choice Award and a KIDS FIRST! media endorsement.
In the ALP compilation, “WomenWill Save the World,” Sue Lee shares lessons from a wise woman—her mother. Sue’s mom taught her something that we might identify today as the Law of Being. If you want something, act as though you already have it. She said: “’You can be anything you wish to be and become like anyone you wish to become. Just ‘be’ it, become the trait you wish to have.’” It sounds easy, and that’s because it is!
We caught up with Sue Lee last December while she was organizing her Sock-it-to-em Sock Campaign, which included a “No Socks to Work Day.” In an effort to raise sock donations for the homeless, participants of the event were asked to go without socks on 12/12/12 and to donate a pair instead. Sue met with a high level of success, collecting over 10,000 pairs of socks! She garnered widespread community involvement, including local sports team the Denver Nuggets!
We got a chance recently to chat with Sue about her progress, her inspiration, and her future plans.
ALP: What inspires you to save the world in the ways that you do?
Sue: “Like many of us I think I discovered that natural pull to ‘save’ the world as a young child. The aspect that one human can influence and encourage others has always been profound for me. What we’ve done with the Sock-it-to-em Sock Campaign is pretty simple. We can warm our hearts by helping to warm someone’s feet.”
ALP: Speaking of the power of one woman’s influence, can you share more about how your campaign started and how you met with such success?
Sue: “The idea for the Sock-it-to-em Sock Campaign for the homeless came to me while grocery shopping– it was one of those ideas that hits out of the blue, takes hold, and is constantly present in mind and heart. I couldn’t let go of it and so in 2012 I said to my friend Phillis Shimamoto, ‘Come and do this with me and we’ll take it national.’ Our intention was to just send out emails the week of Thanksgiving and ask our friends all over the country to join us in gathering socks for the month of December, then the first week of January to take them to a shelter.
“We never realized what we started and how it would grab hold of people. Within two days of the emails going out, we were contacted by the radio show Business Unconventional ‘BUnconventional’ 710 KNUS-AM Denver to immediately come in and be on their show! Dean Rotbart, one of the show’s hosts, declared during the take, ‘I got it, let’s do a No-Socks-To-Work Day! We’ll ask folks to go to work on 12-12-12 without their socks, send us pictures of their bare feet in their shoes, declaring they and their place of business supports giving socks to the homeless.’
“First on board was Brad Smith, owner of Home Smart Reality. He got his whole team involved, sent pictures and even had a party on 12-12-12 where Santa Claus had to go without socks! Within days Coach Karl of the Nuggets took off his socks along with some team members and sent a picture! The spirit was alive and growing and we had no idea where it was going to end up.”
ALP: That is truly amazing, and such a great example of how kindness and goodness can be spread. What are your future plans for the campaign?
Sue: “What began as a simple idea has turned into a learning experience and now Phillis and I face the dilemma of moving it forward. We literally, if we had the capital, could keep several people employed full time just in doing this. We have tons of ideas…we are excited of what the potential is.
“And, so yes… it continues… just this month BYOU Magazine, a self-esteem magazine for young girls had a half-page article in their February/March issue. Within days of the article 175 pairs of socks arrived from Florida. We are still receiving socks and working on how to get bigger and better. We hope that we’ll gather even more socks this year…and then the year after that and after that…stayed tuned…The Sock-it-to-em Sock Campaign is growing!”
For more essays and insights on feminine Wisdom – and all of the other characteristics helping women to save the world – get your copy of “Women Will Save the World” by Caroline A. Shearer. And be sure to check in to the ALP blog, as we will be bringing you more updates, profiles, and inspirational quotes in honor of Women’s History Month!
