CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF WENDY SMITH

November 21st, 2019

What a wonderful friend and volunteer for GAB. We first met Wendy and her son Lucas a our GAB Movie Event in Oconomowoc, WI. Lucas was bullied in school since second grade because of his autism. He endured ridicule, physical attacks, had his glasses smashed, and his classmates generally made his life miserable and fearful. Wendy wanted to see what our organization was all about.

As the saying goes ‘the rest is history”. The event sparked a fire in Lucas. He was motivated to help other people and blossomed into a volunteer dynamo. He helped out in the community of Manitowoc in many ways. His first interest was a volunteer with the local Humane Society because 

of his love to help animals. He raised money to help fund a baseball park for special needs kids. He helped raise money to give backpacks of supplies to kids who were less fortunate. His volunteering earned Lucas State, Regional and National awards for his unselfish giving. Lucas was the definition of an Upstander. None of this would have been possible without the love of his Mom and family to help expose Lucas to ideas. One of those ideas was GAB.

From that first encounter at the movie event, Wendy became a tireless volunteer for GAB. She and Lucas attended all of our events and promoted us whenever the occasion presented itself. She helped raise significant funds for GAB and never said “No”. Throughout all of Wendy’s unselfish help, Lucas grew into a confident young man which eventually led to him having the courage to speak to GAB audiences. First, small gatherings and then larger events including radio and TV.

Wendy was tireless despite the individual battle she was fighting, cancer. She battled cancer for several years and still came to the GAB events. Wendy was remarkable in so many ways. The biggest being that of a true friend.

We thank you and your family from the bottom of our hearts.

The world needs more Wendys.