Meet My Friend: Terrific Tawnee

Tawnee has been featured on my blog tons and tons and tons of times. However I thought a formal introduction was necessary since I'm going to wish her a very public "Happy Birthday". Tawnee is from Ohio and works as a JET in the big city of Wakayama. I'm so glad that we have become friends b/c Tawnee is one of the kindest, funniest, most beautiful (inside & out), and most giving person that I've ever met. She truly cares about others. In fact she has asked her friends and family to pass on giving her presents and instead donate to an amazing cause that she's directly involved in. This past winter holiday Tawnee traveled with a group to the southeastern coast of India to volunteer in a village. She worked in a village that was hit hard by the 2004 tsunami and even before that it was just extremely poor and had very little. This village is in the lowest rung of the caste system (actually it's not really a part of the system; it's so poor) in India and have no means to rise out of the poverty they live in. Tawnee's group was able to help build some sturdy homes, feed the village, donate cleaning supplies, and set up a medical clinic. Tawnee keeps in touch with the organizers in India and has made it her mission to continue to help them out even from so far away. She will eventually return to India and pitch in when she can. So in addition to the donation that Rich and I made for her birthday, I also want to publicly pass this along to anybody that reads my blog. Here is a link to her donation page. Her page has photos of her time in India and explains what she did there and what the money is going to do for the village (sadly they are so poor that the first goal is just to provide one egg and a glass of milk each morning to every child). Her page ends shortly after her birthday on April 19. I truly am honored that I am friends with Tawnee; her thoughtfulness and concern for others is awe inspiring. ** Photos stolen from Tawnee.**

Happy Birthday Tawnee!