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GREATEST PERSON
OF THE WEEK
HUFFINGTON
12.02.12
CHANGING LIVES
From the smallest to the largest of requests, the organization
has become a lifeline, bringing
the community together in unexpected ways.
When the home of a single father
with three children burned down,
Brady shot an email to his 2,000
contacts and before long, handed
the man a crisp check for $10,000.
They do one home makeover
a year in the area, putting up the
resident in a hotel for a month and
using money either donated or
awarded through grants to pay for
the contractors, builders and materials to completely redo the house.
Sometimes the requests are
small, but the outcome is literally life changing — one man called
Brady asking if he could have food
for Thanksgiving. He received a
similar call from a woman who
happened to be in the same lowincome housing block. Brady introduced them to each other and
loaded them into his car the next
morning for a trip to Shop Rite.
Somewhere between the vegetable aisle and the cereal aisle a spark
ignited, and six months later Brady
was asked if he would be the best
man at their wedding. Not only did
he and his wife stand as matron of
honor and best man, but he also
set up a gazebo wedding for them,
and a family donated their vacation
house in Vermont for the couple’s
honeymoon.
As for Brady, the 71 year old
doesn’t plan to slow down anytime soon.
“My goal is to make 80 working for the ministry here, and
then by the end of the year pass
it along because I suspect I probably won’t be climbing ladders or
anything,” he says. “But I’d like
to spend more time with
the grand kids.”
Brady works
alongside
other
volunteers
transporting
donated
books to
Brookfield
Library for a
fundraiser.