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FEATURES (This article, reprinted with permission, featuring Linda Harper Waters, class of 1977, was read to the audience and printed in the program at the May 2, 2005 awards ceremony for Voices for Children in St. Louis) 5/24/05 Linda Waters Linda Waters has a special energy that knows no limits. Since her March 2001 swearing in, Linda has represented 12 children and, in 2003, was honored as a Volunteer of the Month for her outstanding child advocacy work. Today, Linda works with three children, and has already asked about taking another case. The Voices for Children award, however, is about more than touching the lives of the children she represents. In this case, every child advocate, every child and every staff member at Voices has been touched by Linda. Linda shares the Voices story with everyone she meets. And in return, those people share with us. Linda is the center of the quilt project. The beautiful, handmade quilts many children received over the last year, are due to Linda's time, energy and fabric. She once told our story while standing in line at Famous Barr, and a total stranger donated a grand piano to Voices in her will. Linda has already convinced a friend to donate landscaping services for the new Voices building. Earlier this year, after sharing our story with a new friend, a donation was made in Linda's honor to buy everything on the Voices for Children wish list. A relative, struggling with the loss of a spouse, donated laptop computers to Voices in the spouse's honor. Long ago when I wrote about Linda for Volunteer of the Month I asked if she had any children of her own. "Right now I have eight," she said and then named all of the Voices children with whom she had worked. I think that by now, because her arms reach around all of our children, Linda's kids number in the thousands. |
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