Meet Beverly from Maxton, North Carolina

Beverly Warriax and her husband are raising a daughter and also a niece, both teenagers. Beverly requested $2,000 to purchase robes for their church drama team and choir. Beverly volunteers with the drama team and youth at the House of Prayer Holiness Church in Rowland. In her application, Beverly wrote...

"Our church Drama Team have worn the same robes for years, and the choir doesn't even have any robes. We are a small church with limited resources. My kids work very hard practicing and performing and have even worked at car washes to raise the money, but the money was taken and spent by the old drama leader when she left the church. They get so discouraged when they go to other churches and see their nice colorful robes. The ones we have now are falling apart and have been repaired over and over. If you don't know what a drama team is, let me try to explain: we use signing to music."

Beverly's husband, Bryan, was a big help in setting up our surprise phone call. A newspaper reporter with the Fayetteville Observer wanted to be there, so Bryan had the reporter, Sarah, come to the house, telling Beverly she was with the fire department. I heard Beverly was getting a little suspicious but then I called to give her the good news. I'm not sure if she was laughing or crying but she was definitely excited, and surprised. The reporter, Sarah, told me afterwards that she had driven an hour and a half to get there and said there were no house numbers but a neighbor helped locate Beverly's house. The couple also raises beagles on their property. Beverly will use her $2,000 to buy robes and music equipment for her church drama team.

Diary Starts Here

June 27, 2008
We received this email from our Hero, Alana Butts…

"Jenny, would you please pass my poem "In the Corner" along to Beverly’s family, for their garden has truly grown."

In the Corner (sent by Alana Butts)

There in the corner of the garden is a single white rose,
why it grows over there, nobody really knows.
The are no others like it, it is the only one,
I don't prune it or feed it, it grows strictly on sun.

I often wonder how it got there, who planted the seed,
the rose is beautiful, perfect, awesome indeed.
My garden is encased in brick around ever side,
it is long and narrow, not at all very wide.

I've planted many flowers, watered them one by one,
but in that very corner, is that rose, growing in the sun.
My garden is so special I treat it with lots of care,
I guess I should explain - my garden is my heart,
I grow my friends there.

I treat them all like flowers, shower them with love,
give them pieces of my heart, send prayers for them above.
But in that corner of my garden is that special rose,
I know why it's there and heaven knows.

It is a special rose, perfect as can be,
I grew it for my friend, who passed on before me.
It is for the friends who have already gone home,
that's why their rose is special, sacred and alone.

I keep a rose for them in the garden of my heart,
to remind me of how a friendship starts.
It starts off slowly, then blossoms so wonderful and rare,
just like a rose, one tended to with loving care.

So if you seem my crying one day, for no reason at all,
it's because my corner's grown larger and my garden gotten small.
The corner will have grown, white roses will be everywhere,
and heaven will be home for all the friends represented there.

June 17, 2008
It is with much sadness that we share the news of the passing of this wonderful hero, Beverly Warriax. We just learned that Beverly passed away on June 6th, having suffered a heart attack. Beverly's grant was the smallest we have ever done. She only requested $2,000 for choir robes for her church choir and drama team, and she was so excited when she got the good news. But the sad news that came this week was a surprise to everyone. We just received a note from family friend, April, letting us know that Beverly was sitting on her front porch with her daughter when she had a heart attack. Beverly's husband, Bryan, said they were all caught off guard and are dealing with it the best they can, one day at a time. Bryan asked for our prayers. Beverly is survived by her husband, Bryan; daughters, McKenzie Brewington and Candice Deese; father, Lawrence Deese; mother, Polly Deese; brother, Lawrence Deese; and sister, Ellen Locklear.