Dorothy: [00:00:00] If you were in a position to be able to donate millions of dollars to a charity, would you want everyone to know your name? Most people do, but not this next guest who has spent much of her life behind the scenes, giving millions to nonprofit organizations and helping individuals around the world.
During this episode, you’ll learn about our anonymous donor, from how we met her to how she kept The Rose afloat during the pandemic, and you’ll hear about how she let us acknowledge her without ever revealing her name. And you’ll soon learn that it’s easier said than done.
Let’s Talk About Your Breast, a different kind of podcast presented to you by The Rose; Breast Center of Excellence and a Texas treasure. You’re going to hear frank discussions about tough topics, and you’re going to learn why knowing about your breast could save your life. Join us as we hear another story and we answer those tough questions that you may have.[00:01:00]
I want to tell the story of how this woman came into our lives. I get this phone call from a colleague and who says, I have someone that you need to talk to. I think that’s how she said it, that you need to talk to because she’s interested in what kind of services are out there for the Hispanic woman.
And I said, sure, okay, no problem. And she gave me a couple of times and one was going to work just fine. And she said something else in there, like, And she only wants to talk to you, she doesn’t want to have your development director around. Now any, any smart person would have snapped to that, but I didn’t.
I thought someone was coming to talk to me about the services we have for Hispanic women. And you know, I’m really, really proud of the way that we’ve always had that outreach and we’ve always had built that trust in, in that community. And, and so I thought, fine, well that day we were having some [00:02:00] kind of special event out here.
It was in one of those, you know, if you get this many votes, you’re going to make this much money and all that we had our coach out front, our mobile mammography coach, and we’re all getting ready for this, this videos to start like at 11 o’clock and, and this woman, I was set up to meet at 10 and she came into the office area here. I know this sounds crazy, but she was in, like, her garden clothes. That’s all I can remember. I think she, I think you had a hat on that day. You say no you didn’t, but I, I know you did.
Anonymous Donor: I did, but that’s okay. But I did come in sort of my jeans and gardening clothes.
Dorothy: You did, yes. And so, you know, and you had your friend with you.
Anonymous Donor: Yes.
Dorothy: And so we went into my office and we’re sitting there and I’m talking on and on about Hispanic services that we have and who [00:03:00] we serve and how we serve them. And so then you said, what’s on your wish list? And I said, well, this building’s falling down around us. We, we’ve got to do something with it.
And you said, I’m not into brick and mortar. And, you know, again, a really smart person would have started seeing the light at that point. Not me. And then I said, um, Something like, We have so many wishes or something like that. And then you had already asked me. You’d seen the coach out front, and you’d already asked me, Now, how much do those vehicles cost?
And I said, 1.3 million. And you said, Oh. And then, after you’d said what’s on your wish list, you came back and said, What I really want to get you is another coach. And I remember going, Did I just hear something, uh, weird here? Am I losing my mind? I, I, I don’t know. [00:04:00] I couldn’t speak for a few minutes.
Anonymous Donor: You really couldn’t.
Dorothy: No.
Anonymous Donor: You could not speak. You were just in a state of shock and then you started crying.
Dorothy: Yes. Yes. Well, I mean, how many people walk in and say, I want to get you a coach. And I do remember you saying, when I told you it was 1.3 million, you said, Oh, it’s a little bit more. Then I was ready for her or something like that.
And I was going, well, I didn’t even know what you were doing there. So I I’ve never, ever had that kind of experience. The Rose has never, ever had someone come in and say, I want to give you a million point three for you to get another coach.
Anonymous Donor: Well, I’m actually, I knew I was going to get you a coach. I just had to get you around to the point of talking to me about the coach, you know, instead of all the services, which was great. I mean, I learned a lot, but I just knew that the coach was where I was going.
Dorothy: Well, our mutual friends certainly hid your intent. Well, and I will always be grateful to her for putting us [00:05:00] together. So let’s, let’s talk just a minute about why it’s been important to you to be anonymous.
Anonymous Donor: I grew up in a family where we did everything mainly anonymous. And for me, it’s the gift that should be the front and center, not the person who gifts it. It should be what the gift is and how it’s going to affect the people and how it’s going to help them. So that’s why I remain anonymous.
Dorothy: And I do know how scared I was that we were going to slip up and and and lose your trust because maybe we said something or did something Uh, and even in our, our, uh, communications around here and the way we have you listed, it’s anonymous, anonymous donor.
That means no one can know you, no one can, you know, it’s, it’s so interesting. You have provided The Rose with 6 million in funding [00:06:00] for two coaches. Three on the way. Yeah.
Anonymous Donor: Three on the way.
Dorothy: One more’s on the way.
Anonymous Donor: Yeah.
Dorothy: And you started our mammogram to medical home program, which was a program that we ensure that there is a nurse practitioner here to take care of women who do not have a doctor, which there are hundreds of them that call us every month. And you have to have a doctor’s appointment to our doctor’s referral to have a mammogram. So we were seeing so many women not being served and they would go away and they would come back later, two years later, with a much more advanced cancer. So you started that program and it has been phenomenal. Phenomenal.
Anonymous Donor: Oh, I’m glad to hear that.
Dorothy: It has really, really moved the, um, What do you, how do you say it? It, it’s, it’s given women another option that just is not out there, is not out there. And, uh, I do remember after you had given us that [00:07:00] gift that COVID happened.
Anonymous Donor: Correct.
Dorothy: And so here we are facing a time that we’re about to close not knowing if we’re going to come back. Not knowing what’s ahead just like the rest of the world, you know. Everyone was in that horrible time of uncertainty. And this woman called me and said now Dorothy if you need to use some of that money for your salaries for your people that’s what you need to do. We can’t have them not being able to pay their rent. You— your words and, and use it for something else. And I was like, Oh my gosh. Because that’s exactly what we needed. We had no clue if we were going to be able to keep paying our people. And for our people, that meant the world.
Anonymous Donor: Well, I’ve been very fortunate in the fact that I’ve been able to travel so many places because of, well, one, birdwatching. And when you’re a birdwatcher, you’re in the field and you really see how people live, that they don’t have clean [00:08:00] water, they don’t have electricity or whatever. So, Africa is probably my favorite, uh, continent. So I’ve done a lot there. Uh, I’ve done some educational things for the underserved there. I’ve done exploration, help exploring various rivers and everything.
And like, there was one place due to COVID, and this was in South Africa. Uh, it’s a forest, and it’s, uh, the conservation of this forest and they used to make, they made their money by tourists coming to it but with COVID they couldn’t and they provide summer camps for the underserved in that part of South Africa so the kids can learn about conservation.
So a friend of mine phoned and he said we’ve chipped in X amount of dollars and how would you feel about chipping in some? So I said yes and just as a sidelight of this. This was in Hobbit Town, and you know, [00:09:00] the Hobbit books, and the author’s son was, Tolkien’s son was stationed in Hobbit Town. Oh, I love that story.
So, so anyhow, I, I’m just very lucky that I have a contact there, and, and I, and, I mean, I give him seed money, and like, the one that was doing education in Botswana, Uh, De Beers jumped on board and gave her a 5 million grant to continue to do this vocational school because with COVID Botswana learned the lack of tourism and what are the people going to do? And so she’s trying to teach them other opportunities of employment. So I’ve been lucky in that aspect. And then I’ve been down in South America and I’ve been in Mexico.
Dorothy: Yes, and of course you’ve been in many different places in the United States. Now tell us about the bakery story in Africa. I love that story.
Anonymous Donor: So, one of the [00:10:00] ways that I, mainly the way I find out about things is by word of mouth, like I found out about you by word of mouth, because I had not lived in Texas for so long. And so, a friend of mine went up, stayed with these people who live in St. Louis, and he phoned me and he said, I think there’s something you would like.
And so, this is about a young woman who was in the Peace Corps in Rwanda, can’t cook worth the Tinker’s Darn, but she, in their instruction book, they taught you how to make a Dutch oven and you could do bread. Well, in her village, they had never seen bread. So, she kind of promised herself that when she returned back to the states, she would come back and help these women bakers.
And so she has, and these are the first women bakers in Rwanda. And it is a non profit for profit. And she has three bakeries right now. And Partners in Health are building a global medical university. And they [00:11:00] have asked her to do a little bakery outside on their campus.
Dorothy: Oh, I hadn’t heard that one.
Anonymous Donor: Yeah.
Dorothy: Wow. Wow.
Anonymous Donor: So, I mean, they’re doing a really good job. And, uh, you know, it’s, I, and I pay, I paid seedling money once again for them to get established. But I now pay for their health care. Because if you don’t have your health care, health, you’re not going to do very well.
Dorothy: No.
Anonymous Donor: But it’s, you know, A tremendous amount of dependents. It’s, uh, you know, like 54 bakers and 170 plus dependents.
Dorothy: Oh my gosh.
Anonymous Donor: Yeah.
Dorothy: I didn’t know that.
Anonymous Donor: Yeah.
Dorothy: Wow.
Anonymous Donor: So, anyhow.
Dorothy: But again, the bakers were female.
Anonymous Donor: They’re all female.
Dorothy: And so you gave not only a new start to a business, you gave a start to these women.
Anonymous Donor: And these women now are chipping in for, uh, some health care. Uh, and, and they really are starting [00:12:00] to take care of themselves. They’re learning how to budget. They’re learning this and that. And this, the money they’re making from this has helped send the girls to school.
Dorothy: Oh, yes.
Anonymous Donor: The boys, they sent all the boys to school, but they didn’t send the girls. And so now the girls are able to go to school. And they decided they needed childcare. So they call their, they built a baby house.
Dorothy: Oh.
Anonymous Donor: And that’s their childcare right on the, on their premises so everybody can bring their children to, you know, the smaller children.
Dorothy: Now, talk about full circle. Talk about going all the way around and really caring for the entire family. That’s, a lot of your projects have to do with women.
Anonymous Donor: I really come from a family of strong women, which I, Really never thought about until recently. But like one of my, my step grandmother was a suffragist and picketed the White House and marched in the real big march and went around the West and other [00:13:00] places to, for the women’s vote.
And she actually ended up in the workhouse for three days. She was arrested in Washington, D. C. And my grandmother, who was orphaned at 12, She just took care of her friends, and that’s when I learned, you know, and I watched my grandmother, and she would listen, and, uh, And then my mother, because my father was ill, had to jump into the oil industry in the 50s, and women weren’t doing that too often, and she also started, a foundation that, uh, sponsored research in a medical disease, but with that disease came genetics, and so she’s helped push that forward.
Dorothy: That’s long before that became really—
Anonymous Donor: Yeah, that was in the 60s. And so, each one of them cared about somebody in some way and helped them out, but they all wanted to remain unknown, anonymous.
Dorothy: And that, that’s so unusual.
Anonymous Donor: Yeah.
Dorothy: I mean, when you see people’s names on the side of buildings, and, and [00:14:00] you know how—
Anonymous Donor: Right.
Dorothy: We’ve experienced some donors that felt like they didn’t get enough appreciation or enough recognition. Yes. And it’s, it’s very, very rare to have your kind of philosophy with your kind of generosity. I mean, that’s just, in our world, it’s been unheard of.
Anonymous Donor: Well, they just, my parents and, uh, they just all said, you don’t need to be known. Helping the others is the most important thing.
Dorothy: And do you remember how much that bothered me because I couldn’t acknowledge you? I couldn’t put you anywhere. And so I came to you and I said, there has got to be something that we can do in this coach. That would be yours. I mean, do you have a favorite color? Do you have anything? And so she says, and I, and I said, we can’t name it after you, but is there any way that we could recognize you? And so she said, well, you could name it after one of the dogs that was in my life. And so that’s how it [00:15:00] started. We now have Misty. And we have Lily and we have Eva. And Eva’s not here yet. She’s not gotten here yet. So I just don’t want people going crazy thinking we’ve got that fifth coach. But, but it’s on its way. And that’s how we talk about them.
Anonymous Donor: Oh, I think that’s great.
Dorothy: It’s not coach one, coach two. It’s You know, every coach has a name.
Anonymous Donor: You need a name.
Dorothy: Yes.
Anonymous Donor: You really do.
Dorothy: I wish you had been here earlier, uh, when one of the drivers was here.
Anonymous Donor: Oh!
Dorothy: Because she was telling me, Misty only likes to be driven by one of the other drivers. And she was having an issue, and so Tammy went out to try and figure, you know, try to help with it. And she said she had to talk to her. Misty, I gotta take you in today now. And it was, I said, I’m kind of looking at her. She said, it’s true. Every single one of our coaches likes only one driver. And if they have a problem, it’s going to be only that driver that can get it fixed. And of [00:16:00] course, she’s been with us a long time and she was our first driver.
Anonymous Donor: Yeah.
Dorothy: But I just think that’s so fascinating.
Anonymous Donor: And that is fascinating.
Dorothy: How they can have their own personalities and right and have a different way of being.
Anonymous Donor: And actually the dog, Misty, she was a one person dog.
Dorothy: Really?
Anonymous Donor: Yeah.
Dorothy: Oh, how interesting. Oh my gosh.
Anonymous Donor: Yeah. She’s a one person dog. And so, yeah. So it’s kind of, I thought, that’s very fitting.
Dorothy: Oh, yes. Yes. Yes.
Anonymous Donor: Yeah. Wants that driver.
Dorothy: Well, and, and just for our audience to know, the coaches serve anywhere from 10,000 to 12,000 women a year.
Anonymous Donor: Wow.
Dorothy: Each coach serves 3,000 to 3,500, and it kind of depends on, you know, what sites we’re going to. More than half of the women we serve on those coaches are uninsured, and the insured ones always tell us, well, I just wouldn’t have had this done if the coach hadn’t come to my business, or my [00:17:00] church, or my wherever.
Because I can’t take off work. I can’t, I don’t have that time. So, it has been Phenomenal in a lot of ways. It’s not just the cancers we found and it’s all you know, remember on coaches, you could only do screening.
Anonymous Donor: Right.
Dorothy: You’re not doing someone’s got a lump in their breast and you’re doing a diagnostic only screening and the number of cancers we found— Again represent the population we serve. I understand that. But it’s it’s many times their first case mammogram.
Anonymous Donor: Correct.
Dorothy: Many times they haven’t had one. And the other thing though, and I know this won’t mean as much to you as it does to me. They expect us to come back. For the first time, this woman may be actually doing her annual mammogram annually. For the first time, she may be taking care of herself and saying, I will make this appointment. And you know, that kind of behavior change is, is just [00:18:00] beyond being able to capture. You can’t put a dollar sign by it, a number by it. But it means that she’s going to be that role model to all the other women around her.
And continue to push for those things that are available to her, but she may not have even known about.
Anonymous Donor: Right.
Dorothy: Or, or didn’t think she was worth, or didn’t want to make time for. So, I, I
Anonymous Donor: Or didn’t know how to go about it.
Dorothy: Didn’t know how to go about it. Absolutely. So, the coach going into our different communities really is one of the best parts of our mission. We’re not saying to women, you gotta come to us. We’re saying, we’re gonna be there for you.
Anonymous Donor: Right.
Dorothy: We’re gonna come back. I’m not going to leave you.
Anonymous Donor: And that’s very important.
Dorothy: Oh yeah, those coaches have been such, such an important part of, of what we do.
Anonymous Donor: Did you think they would be that successful?
Dorothy: No. And in Texas, we’ve seen a drop in coaches, especially those serving the uninsured.
Anonymous Donor: Correct.
Dorothy: They’re expensive to [00:19:00] run, they need a lot of operational things, you don’t just park them somewhere.
Anonymous Donor: Right.
Dorothy: They have to have their own storage that has to be, you know, cool 24 hours a day, they run on generators that constantly need upgrading. So many hospitals have pulled out of doing coaches and, and that means that a lot of our rural areas aren’t being served.
And that’s, that is one of the. main accomplishments of our whole mobile mammography program. We’re reaching women. There’s a saying I heard once, when we drive through town, we know kind of where the poor people live.
Anonymous Donor: Correct.
Dorothy: But in the country, poverty is behind the gate. You don’t even know who’s able and who’s not. So it means a lot. Now, let’s go back to you a minute. Is there anything that you wish you could have done? I mean, here you’ve had access to millions of dollars, and it is, has been millions. I hope it’s not billions, and I don’t even know that.
Anonymous Donor: Oh, [00:20:00] good Lord, if it was billions, I wouldn’t be here. I don’t, I don’t, I don’t, I wouldn’t know what to do with that much money.
Dorothy: Truly. But has there ever been anything you wished you could do that you, for whatever reason, couldn’t, didn’t?
Anonymous Donor: I mean, I feel like I’ve been very fortunate to have the life that I’ve had, and been able to help people, and be able to see the world, and have friends around the world. Um, I was unable to have children, but four children have adopted me in their 30s, and, uh, which was great, because I didn’t have to change diapers, or save for college, or, anything like that, but they still have problems, I find, in their 40s and 50s.
And so, not really. I, I, I, I can’t imagine any other way of, the way I’ve lived.
Dorothy: Wow.
Anonymous Donor: You know, and I mean, I’ve been very fortunate. I mean, as life goes on, we all have our blips on the radar [00:21:00] screen, but that’s just the way it is. And you make the best of the hand you’re dealt.
Dorothy: True.
Anonymous Donor: Yeah. So, that’s what I’ve tried to do.
Dorothy: We won’t go into it, but you, you had your share of bad card deals.
Anonymous Donor: Yes, I have had a share, but on another side, you could either look at it like, Oh gosh, this is the most awful thing to happen to you. Or I took it day by day and I always, there was always a silver lining. And because of that, I feel like that if I had passed away earlier, I still had a decent life.
Dorothy: Friends everywhere.
Anonymous Donor: I do. I have good friends everywhere. But when I broke my leg and I had 12 friends from both coasts come in and want to come in and take care of me, I knew I was a very fortunate person.
Dorothy: And you were many continents away at that point.
Anonymous Donor: Oh, yes. I was down in South America in the middle of nowhere. So it was an interesting experience, which I could have lived without, as [00:22:00] far as I was concerned. Um, but you know, and once again, those people down there were so helpful. Uh, down in South America, just the nicest group of people.
Dorothy: One of the other stories I remember is you were a teacher at one time. And one of the experiences you had when I think you had just started teaching and you went into a classroom and saw some kids on the floor.
Anonymous Donor: I was still in school. I, I kind of took a 21 gap year between my freshman and sophomore year in college. So, I walked into this classroom because I was doing my thesis, senior thesis on Spanish bilingual education, and this teacher said, there were five Hispanic children on the floor and it was kindergarten, and she said, don’t bother with them, they’re Mexican, they won’t learn anything.
I want you to go and work with the kids in the back room, and I said, mm mm, sitting down here, I’m going to work with these kids. She, I mean, and that just killed me that, it didn’t matter. [00:23:00] I mean, they’re kids, they’re human beings, and it shouldn’t have mattered what ethnic thing they were. I mean, I did part of my student teaching in a Spanish bilingual classroom.
And I had four sets of lesson plans, and I had a high Spanish and a low Spanish, and a high English and a low English. And it was interesting because my supervisor just based it on one child, based my whole thing on one child, all my teaching. And my master teacher went bananas because this teacher gave me really low marks on everything.
And, and she thought I had done phenomenally well, considering that I, she didn’t think I was going to be able to get through the Spanish, teaching in Spanish. And so, but I, I’ve always loved the Hispanic culture, and I’ve just thoroughly enjoyed it, and that comes back to, as you know, when I was in sixth grade, we had a choice between French and English, and because my brothers were not linguists, I sat in on their [00:24:00] tutor sessions, and I knew so much Spanish that the tutor said, get her out of here, the boys are learning nothing, and so, but Senior Ratery was going to have a piñata. And I thought that was the best reason ever to take Spanish. And I just have always loved the Spanish culture.
Dorothy: Now, we all know, we can’t say your name, we can’t put it anywhere, but there are ways that the folks that you’ve helped have recognized you or What makes you feel good?
Anonymous Donor: I’ve loved our friendship that has evolved out of this. And I have gotten to know so many interesting people from being philanthropic. I think it’s the friendships that I’ve gotten from them, and I know they appreciate everything. What I do enjoy, because part of this is education, and for the various scholarships and the notes that I get. And for instance, I set up something at the University of Houston, and I look for [00:25:00] things they don’t have.
And so this was a, uh, travel fund for the music students. And for them to go to competitions, or go to Paris and study for a week, or something like that. And so this young man just finished having, uh, I can’t remember, but he composed a piece and it was being shown at the Gus Wortham Theatre last weekend. And I couldn’t see it, but his first, he was the first recipient of this. And he went down to Sao Paulo, Brazil, and he got the symphony to play his composition.
Dorothy: Wow.
Anonymous Donor: And so he’s been doing a lot of different things. So it’s to see the joy that comes with it. And to see, I mean, I just got a letter from somebody who was in high school and he was going to somewhere which I had no idea was a good school, but it turns out it’s the top engineering machine [00:26:00] design thing and they only take like 60 students a year.
And so, and he, and he got it, but he, he received a scholarship, named for a dog. Uh, and so, it’s really when I get things like that, and just hear, when I can help people out, and I hear about them and how much it means to them.
Dorothy: It’s still that one on one.
Anonymous Donor: Yeah, it’s still that one on one.
Dorothy: Still one person helping another.
Anonymous Donor: Right, and I just, I had somebody who was down from a college where I have some scholarships in memory of my step grandmother and step grandfather. It’s And I helped some of their Afghani alums get out. And I was just catching up on them, uh, and what has happened. Because there was one I was particularly worried about, because she is by herself.
And, uh, her mother is alone in Afghanistan. So you can imagine what life [00:27:00] is. But she, you know, she can’t call back too often because the Taliban may pick up on it. And, uh, and when I took the photograph of the girls, I saw two of them go, kind of, just blanch, and I said, this is not going on social media. I know you all have family back there.
Dorothy: And that was a very moving time for you.
Anonymous Donor: That was very emotional for me to, to meet them. You know, but they, they’re now, they now realize they probably will never be able to go back, and they’ll probably never be able to see their family. Yeah, so they’re— But they’re all doing well, and that was what I— That’s what I wanted to find out about.
Dorothy: And they have a life.
Anonymous Donor: And they have a life.
Dorothy: A new life. Of course different than the old but still new.
Anonymous Donor: Yeah.
Dorothy: So and I and you know, I hear so many of your stories and that’s That’s what you do. I was I remember you invited me to lunch with a couple of other folks [00:28:00] and of course I never know why I’m going to these things, but we’re sitting there and they’re talking and then someone started telling a story about the anonymous gift you’d given her organization that got it going. And I’m going, is she always anonymous? Does she always do that? And every one of them said, yep, that’s, that’s the way she is. That’s the way she’s going to be. And she’s going to listen to you. When I talked to one of your many children, adopted children. Um, I said to him, I said, when, uh, she calls, my husband says, I know who’s on the other line because you lied up.
And he said, that’s exactly how I feel. When she calls, I am suddenly lifted out of whatever’s going on in my life. And I know you helped them. When he was younger, but he said, she just has that impact on people, on the world. She lifts people up.
Anonymous Donor: Oh, that’s sweet of him to say that.
Dorothy: It was very, very good, yes.
Anonymous Donor: Oh, he texted me this morning, said, good luck. [00:29:00]
Dorothy: So you were nervous about doing this.
Anonymous Donor: Oh yes, oh yes, I was. Very much so. Because I’m not used to being front and center.
Dorothy: And you’re going to gift us with meeting some of the staff today for the first time.
Anonymous Donor: That’s correct.
Dorothy: And have lunch with us. So, uh, that’s very special to all of them.
They’ve always saying, what can we do? What can, how can we tell her thank you again and—
Anonymous Donor: That’s very sweet.
Dorothy: They, they really—
Anonymous Donor: I don’t, you know, for me it’s just meeting the people and see how it’s, how it’s helped them.
Dorothy: So what else would you like us to know about you?
Anonymous Donor: Wow.
Dorothy: I had like 38 questions that my staff wanted me to ask of you. You read them. You know how they are. I know how they are. But one of them kept saying, you know, I want to know, what does she want to be remembered for? What does she want her legacy to be? What, what’s the one thing she hopes someone says at her funeral?
Anonymous Donor: I saw that question, and since I just turned 80, I wasn’t real thrilled with that question. [00:30:00] Uh, I guess more than anything, I just hope that people remember me as always being there for them, being a good friend. I grew up as the mediator in my family. I mean, my brother, older brother, started coming to me at four and saying, Now you go and talk to mother and dad and see if we can do this. And I, in high school, I was known as Mother Hen because I listened.
Uh, in high school, I was president of Lend a Hand. Uh, which is, uh, was, uh, we worked at George Washington Hospital as volunteers. We worked in a daycare center. We worked We sent clothes to Dr. Tom Dooley. Fast forward, and that’s in the 50s, and fast forward to 2015, and I’m in a village in the mountains of Vietnam, and we’re talking to the chief, and the chief is asking our guide while we’re [00:31:00] all here, and I had told on this story, and the chief, he told on the story, and the chief whipped his head around and stared at me, and it turned out the chief got his clothes from Dr. Tom Dooley.
Dorothy: Oh.
Anonymous Donor: And that just sent chills down me. And I thought, what are the odds of this ever happening? Uh, and so, I just really, I, I just hope that people remember I was their farm and helped them whenever they needed the help.
Dorothy: Oh, I know they will. I know you’ll get that wish for sure. Because you have helped so many.
Anonymous Donor: Oh. I’ve been lucky. I’ve really been blessed.
Dorothy: Well, and it’s because you’ve blessed so many people. I know you don’t like to hear that, but—
Anonymous Donor: No, you’re right.
Dorothy: So one last story, and I’m not going to get this right, but it was someone who was your guide, that you sat in the back of the bus with.
Anonymous Donor: Yes.
Dorothy: Tell us that story, because that’s another one of those, you did a little something [00:32:00] and—
Anonymous Donor: Right. This gentleman lives in South Africa. He is a National Geographic explorer and he has been exploring rivers in Africa and one of the rivers is the Okavango River and its headwaters are in Angola and the eastern part of Angola where Angola had a civil war and it was very mined so, you know, they had to get the the mine people in before they could even start.
He is not only exploring the rivers. Right now, it’s the spine, they call it the spine of Africa, where there are like five rivers that come into this one particular area. But he is the one that is helping me direct some educational things to Cokie. And through Cokie, I’ve been able to help another young woman Who started a preschool in a very small village and now she wants to do a two rooms because this village is on the self drive of uh, Botswana all the [00:33:00] Safari people. But anyhow, this gentleman has been phenomenal and sadly he got colon cancer two years ago And but he’s much better now and he just was telling me that story of that they have a new person called Three.
I said Three? He said, yes. I said, I won’t even ask. And so my friend was polling the Makaro and he managed to tump it over and pour Three, who did not know how to swim. Also had a life jacket on, but Three kind of popped his head up. And there were three crocodiles around him.
Dorothy: Oh my.
Anonymous Donor: So, this gentleman is really going to be known for so much and he is so devoted. He’s the one that told me about Hobbit Town. Uh, he’s the one that told me about so many other things and and they needed some cars. I mean, at one point, I financed four cars in Africa. I [00:34:00] thought I should open a car dealership. And they were all the Toyotas with the, you know, the 4Runners. But they needed that to get into the forest and then they could send drones out to see what the biodiversity was.
So, he has just been wonderful because I’ve been able to do so much in Africa. And the other place I’ve done in Africa, and this was through the zoo here, is in Madagascar. And this gentleman is trying to do two model villages, where you don’t slash and burn, but he’s teaching them how to do agriculture with us. And he’s, he’s one of the world’s leading experts on lemurs. And so he’s teaching them about ecotourism, and he’s teaching them they got hives so they can sell honey. But they just had a cyclone and it wiped out all the hives. So I just finished giving him money for that and he’s supposed to come over and you know, that’s another thing instance. Even though I’ve donated to him, they’ve all become my [00:35:00] friends. And they’ve all added so much to my life.
And so Steve It’s just, he’s really, he’s special. I want to shoot him at times because, you know, but I mean, because he is kind of full of himself and rightfully so, but not all the time. And I do, he did say to me, you don’t let me get away with anything.
Dorothy: No, you don’t.
Anonymous Donor: And I said, you’re right. I mean, he and I sat in the back of the bus and talked the whole time. And actually, they’re getting ready to have an Explorers Festival. He was telling me about things that we’re going to do and, and they’re, they’ve done a movie, uh, that I would really like to see. And, and I said, is this open to the public? He said, no, but special people can come in your special. I said, okay, give me the dates and I’ll be there.
So, you know, I mean, it’s just like you and I, we do things together and, uh, something always wonderful comes out of, out of whatever I’ve done.
Dorothy: And I love the way that you hear about things and that one thing leads to another. I mean, it’s just all the things you were just [00:36:00] saying. It’s not like you ever expect people to give you a proposal or come and talk to me, take me to this, take me to that. No, it’s you hear something and then—
Anonymous Donor: I do. And if, I mean, and I look for seedlings. And I look for spaces that they need something and they hadn’t thought about it. And that’s fine too. So I’m really lucky on that aspect. And I’m just lucky that I’ve been able to do everything I’ve been able to do.
Dorothy: Well, this won’t be the only time that we have you on this, now that you’ve done it once. And, uh, we are going to be very conscious of keeping you anonymous. But, uh, I just, you know, when I talk about you, people sometimes look at me like, is this a real person? Yes, she’s real, she’s here with us today in the studio, and I cannot tell you how much. You have meant to The Rose and how glad I am that that you’re my friend.
Anonymous Donor: Yes, and I am, [00:37:00] same. Ditto. But you’re helping the group that I really want to help and I have feminists in my family, too my mother was quite a feminist too. And so so I bet, no It’s the ones that are underserved that I’m so I mean I was thrilled when somebody told me about you.
Dorothy: Oh, yes, and we are too, believe me. So we’re going to close it up today. Anything else, any last words to someone who maybe has some money and would not know what to give to or—
Anonymous Donor: Yeah. I would say Just listen to people and there’ll be something out there for you. Whatever your interests may be I mean for me I was fortunate because I I was interested in medical research and education and environment slash conservation. And so, there is something out there for everybody. And just listen, and they can give too. And it doesn’t matter if it’s $25 or [00:38:00] $25,000. But just go ahead and give because you’re going to touch somebody. And so that’s all I would say.
Dorothy: Perfect way to close. Thank you for being with us today.
Well, Thank you.
Post-Credits: Thank you for joining us today on Let’s Talk About Your Breasts. This podcast is produced by Freddie Cruz Creative Works and brought to you by The Rose. Visit therose.org to learn more about our organization. Subscribe to our podcast, share episodes with friends, and join the conversation on social media using #Let’sTalkAboutYourBreasts. We welcome your feedback and suggestions. Consider supporting The Rose. Your gift can make the difference to a person in need. And remember, self care is not selfish. It’s essential.
