Nominated by
Nicole Hyma
October 23, 2015
Kim is the type of person that everyone needs in their community, their circle of friends, their thoughts, and their corner. There is no limit to the wonderful things that Kim does.
I have known Kim for 7 years. I taught her two oldest children dance and truly felt that I was meant to meet her. Kim is a mother of 5 beautiful children and wife to one heck of a husband! The family lost a child at birth 5 years ago which inspired Kim to hold an event in our town called A Walk to Remember. It gives an opportunity to all that have lost in and around our area to come and pay tribute and celebrate/remember with others that share that same pain of loss. Every year she spends money out of her own pocket to make sure that this walk happens but this is really only the tip of the iceberg.
A couple years ago Kim met a young girl that was in a bad place. I can't say much on the actual situation of her but she ended up being left with nothing, not even the basics to take care of monthly issues that girls need to take care of. Most people who would have had an encounter with someone like this would feel bad for the person and maybe tell someone about it and how bad they felt and carry on, Kim took it upon herself to make a difference. She used her social media to round up anything she could for this girl; clothes, hygienic necessities, a coat, tooth brush and tooth paste, cleaning products, toilet paper and some fun stuff to let this girl just be a girl. She managed to round up bags of stuff for this girl and took it to her just happy to help.
This example is just one of many. There have been people in our community who have lost their houses in fires, who have been struggling with bills due to a loved one getting sick, whose lives have changed in some drastic way and turned their lifestyle upside down and Kim is always rallying for them. She asks for donations and collects items for these families without the families even knowing never mind requesting it, and if it's a financial issue she will offer to do car details and share the proceeds with the family or hold raffles with her own business and other local businesses that want to get involved in helping these families. I am a photographer and I honestly have lost track of the amount of times over the years she has said to me "hey, I'm doing this thing for a family that needs it. Don't feel obligated but if you're interested let me know." And I am always interested because I know the end result is usually a family in tears at the love and support they feel and it's all because of Kim.
The last thing that I want to touch on is how amazing she is at opening herself to those who may just need to know they aren't alone. Kim, along with myself and many other people we know, is unhappy with her body. So she runs social media groups and weight loss competitions to help encourage everyone around her to not only join her journey but to know they aren't alone on theirs. Her number one focus when running these is to ensure that everyone knows the main rule is weight can only be lost in a healthy way. She is the only person I know that motivates dozens of people to be a better version of themselves and doesn't get paid to do it.
People just don't have that kind of heart anymore. You don't find people who are willing to help absolutely everyone and every cause that crosses their path. I am so honoured to call this woman my friend and my inspiration. She is the kindest, sweetest, fun loving, life living person I know and I can as I sit here and reflect I just keep thinking of all the families she has helped, all the food she has collected for food banks, all the times that just as a friend and just being herself she has helped see me through my own personal tough times and reminded me that not only could things be worse but that the world is truly a beautiful and wonderful place. And through all of this, she is too humble and too wonderful to realize that the world's beauty and amazement comes from people like her.