Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1Y1f78D. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Octogenarian Cheri McDaniel is doing more good for the world at 87 than most people do in their prime. She recently completed her memoirs, He Lays the Stones For Our Steps: Living Life Abundantly in the Face of Adversity. Cheri was born in humble circumstances and became a successful entrepreneur–at a time and in a place where that was unusual for women. Living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana she was the only woman home builder in town. Later, she launched and ran an antique shop with European imports. Initially, she launched the store with her daughter but took it over full time and gave up home building when her daughter had quadruplets. Cheri’s life really began when she retired at 75. “After successful careers, I’m using my life lessons to engage in humanitarian efforts that will help transform the lives of thousands of the world’s most vulnerable and impoverished citizens. These projects range from providing safe drinking water in third-world nations to providing music programs for dementia-impacted senior citizens here in Baton Rouge,” she says. Most recently, she’s been working on projects in Swaziland. “In my 80’s I have focused for 5 years on a continent I will never see: Africa,” she says. Over the last four years, she’s raised money through Rotary to buy four acres and 30,000 square feet of building in Swaziland for a medical clinic and economic development center for people living on less than $2 per day. She’s excited that working with her local Baton Rouge Capital City Rotary Club she doesn’t have to raise all the money herself. Rotary International matches the money for her projects that don’t include real estate through a “global grant” program that helps clubs financially with international projects like Cheri’s. Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1Y1f78D. Please consider whether a friend or colleague might benefit from this piece and, if so, share it.
#393: Octogenarian Author, Entrepreneur, Rotarian Still Giving