This is “me” (yellow coat) 27 years ago. The Philadelphia Tribune shot this photograph at Temple University Hospital as we loaded over 100 boxes of housekeeping and personal care items for homeless and single mothers and their children transitioning to independent living. This was my first active role in leadership in the community. I rallied approximately 50 healthcare workers that volunteered to shop for 21 residents at the Drueding Center in North Philadelphia. When I saw this photograph I couldn’t believe how extending a single suggestion of kindness to friends and co-workers had multiplied into so many blessings for so many women and children at the Drueding Center. From that point on, I was smitten. My heart grew ten times bigger that day and I knew that I could successfully be the link between the basic needs of women and children and the kindness of other people. I have been the “Robin Hood” of charitable collections so to speak ever since.
Madeline Albright made a statement at a conference that I attended last year. “There is a place in Hell for women that don’t support other women.” She owned it with conviction and attitude in the presence of over three thousand women. Superficially, I had to agree. Picking up an extra box of tampons doesn’t require much effort at all. But later I decided that although I understand Madeline’s passion for supporting and fighting for the social and human rights of women, I found the statement to be a little harsh from my perspective.
I have yet to be turned down by a fellow female who was not interested in one of my many causes in one way on the other. In fact most women are surprised that I ask so little of them. I believe for the most part that women in particular are innately kind and generous. A simple “call to action” mobilizes even the busiest mother, the hardest working career woman or the poorest student to participate in activities that invite them to “walk in someone else’s shoes.” I challenge women (and men) to picture themselves living in a homeless shelter, to imagine their children being sold on the street and to listen to the cries of their daughters being beaten by a man every single day. “HOPE HEART AND BEAUTY” has evolved from a thousand acts of generosity and kindness when sympathy was replaced by empathy.
I won’t be condemning many souls to “Hell” any time in the near future. But for those who are lost in the chaos of their own uninformed or busy worlds, I will find them and I will transformation them.
-Sharon Hackney-Robinson
Madeline Albright made a statement at a conference that I attended last year. “There is a place in Hell for women that don’t support other women.” She owned it with conviction and attitude in the presence of over three thousand women. Superficially, I had to agree. Picking up an extra box of tampons doesn’t require much effort at all. But later I decided that although I understand Madeline’s passion for supporting and fighting for the social and human rights of women, I found the statement to be a little harsh from my perspective.
I have yet to be turned down by a fellow female who was not interested in one of my many causes in one way on the other. In fact most women are surprised that I ask so little of them. I believe for the most part that women in particular are innately kind and generous. A simple “call to action” mobilizes even the busiest mother, the hardest working career woman or the poorest student to participate in activities that invite them to “walk in someone else’s shoes.” I challenge women (and men) to picture themselves living in a homeless shelter, to imagine their children being sold on the street and to listen to the cries of their daughters being beaten by a man every single day. “HOPE HEART AND BEAUTY” has evolved from a thousand acts of generosity and kindness when sympathy was replaced by empathy.
I won’t be condemning many souls to “Hell” any time in the near future. But for those who are lost in the chaos of their own uninformed or busy worlds, I will find them and I will transformation them.
-Sharon Hackney-Robinson