‘Stand Up to Stand Out’ impacts Lake

Writer: Theresa Campbell Photo: Fred Lopez

A Umatilla mother of three never imagined when she and a friend started a Facebook group—Stand Up to Stand Out—that it would branch out to 1,664 (and growing) members devoted to performing random acts of kindness to help their Lake County neighbors in need.

“I am absolutely amazed; I have seen a lot of friendships built over this,” says Stacie Richter, 35, the site administrator, who often works behind the scenes several hours a day on the page.

Thanks to the popularity of social media, her page allows people to network by expressing their interest or need for certain items, or post free things they want to give away to a good home. More than 300 new people joined in December alone.

Baby items, men’s trousers, and toys were recent items posted as being available on Facebook—generating donors and recipients to send private messages of public places to meet to make exchanges.

“It’s like when people meet, they are not just swapping items. They’re connecting. I am most proud of the fact that when we started this page, we wanted to build friendships in the community,” Stacie says.

She started the page in September 2015 with her friend Brittany Curry Cox.

“We wanted people to feel that somebody cared,” Stacie says. “Our group isn’t just about giving people things for free; ours is about helping people in need when they need it.”

The group’s roots initially began when Stacie “adopted” families to help during the Christmas season a few years ago. A friend also joined in to help.

“Then we had this idea of why don’t we try to get some more of our friends involved?” Stacie recalls. Some 400 friends immediately joined before the page was expanded into a community project.

In 2015, the Facebook group helped 25 families and 79 children total in a Holiday Adoption Event. Needy families were validated and each child was listed with his or her clothing size, shoe size, and gift ideas for toys and other interests.

The number of families served in the Holiday Adoption Event more than doubled in the 2016 Christmas season.

“It’s a lot of fun for all of the volunteers,” says Stacie. “It is always exciting for them because a lot of the volunteers have adopted a child so they are getting involved both ways, and some of the families who receive gifts volunteer because it is their way of giving back.”

Stacie was deeply touched when the Lake County Explorers program chose to be active in the 2016 Christmas project. She posted on Facebook in December about their involvement:

“With the help of their leading officers they have decided to come together as a group and enjoy each other’s company while doing some holiday shopping for new toys to donate to help local families in need. We want to give them a big thank you for inviting us out to speak to their young leaders and we look forward to inspiring them to become a great part of our growing communities! If you know one of the Explorers personally, please tell them thank you.”

She’s also thankful for the people who value her efforts and applaud Stand Up to Stand Out.

“I do appreciate it when people are like, ‘You amaze me, Stacie!’ I don’t need to hear it, but it feels good when I do,” she says.

As she continually becomes aware and researches the needs that are brought to the group’s attention, Stacie posts requests on the Facebook page to see if anyone wishes to help.

She loves seeing people respond.

“There is always someone willing to help,” she says.

Her group has come to the aid of domestic violence victims and helped several people rebuild their lives following damaging house fires.

“We have a lot of contacts,” Stacie says, adding one company installed new drywall in a burnt home, and many of her Facebook friends came through with new rugs, curtains, kitchenware, furniture, and clothes.

She cherishes getting to meet Stand Up to Stand Out donors at the public functions; many are other parents without a lot of money, but they want to help others who are struggling with job losses, health woes, or daily challenges.

“I talk to these people on Facebook all the time, but when I actually collect the donations from them and I get to meet them in person, and hug them, and tell them it’s going to be OK and to keep your head up, it’s really fun and it excites me,” Stacie says. Stand Up to Stand Out also hosts a free clothing giveaway twice a year, and the next one will be in the spring.

Stand Up to Stand Out members will be encouraged to clean out their closets of clothes they no longer want. The items will be stored in a storage unit and then taken to a public park for distribution. The clothing event will be advertised at food banks and local schools.

“We invite anybody in need to come out and take whatever they need. There is no limit,” says Stacie, who’s pleased her son Skyler, 5, and daughters Chloe, 10, and Delaney, 13 are also involved in Stand Up to Stand Out.

Reflecting on her own youth, Stacie says she lived pretty comfortably while growing up.

“My parents worked very hard for what we had,” she says. Her father owned his own small business; her mom was in the banking field.

“I don’t ever remember struggling, but I look back sometimes and we ate Ramen noodles a lot, and maybe we didn’t have enough food that day,” she says.

However, Stacie hasn’t forgotten the challenging times as a single mother during the first year of her oldest child’s life.

For several months she had three jobs while Delaney was in daycare. The best job was at a dentist office, yet she felt horrible to miss work when her daughter wasn’t well.

“Christmas came and the women in the office knew that I was struggling,” Stacie says, recalling the women surprised her with a $100 Walmart gift card and a $50 Publix gift card.

Another year Stacie recalled she was battling pneumonia. She went to pay her car payment and a gentleman at Braswell Auto in Eustis felt so bad that she was so sick and worried about Christmas.

“He handed me my entire car payment back. He told me to go get Christmas for my child,” she says.

Those random acts of kindness touched her.

“I’m paying it back and I’m paying it forward,” Stacie says. “I just want to encourage people to do what is right and to feel good. There is no financial payment for this. My payment for this is feeling good and seeing other people happy.”

For information, visit the Stand Up to Stand Out Facebook page or email staciemobacie@aol.com.