SHERIDAN’S CARING CRUSADE
Charity queen’ s time to shine
Adecade ago, South Auckland woman Sheridan O’Donnell was in the depths of despair after losing both her dad and brother. Diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, the now 26-yearold turned to counselling to heal the hurt.
“It was a really tough time for me personally,” she remembers. “Both of them were big influences on me, so it was super-hard.”
While losing both her father Phillip at 49 and her oldest brother Tristan at 40 to heart attacks was devastating, self-pity wasn’t for Sheridan.
Instead, the young woman looked at her mum Andrea, 59 – flung into widowhood, solo-parenting Sheridan and her brothers, Joshua and Jeremiah, now 31 and 30 – and took inspiration. “I just thought, ‘I have to go out there and make something of myself.’”
And she’s certainly done that. Named Most Inspiring Woman after a national hunt with Vivo Hair & Beauty, Sheridan has spent the past 16 months helping 35 struggling community causes, charities and individuals throughout Woman’sDay’s New Zealand and the world with The Planet Humanity Project. “It’s amazing to win this award,” she says. “I feel overwhelmed with gratitude. It’s so humbling, but the best thing is bringing awareness to the cause.”
Her venture started as a daily blog after Sheridan – then working with the Auckland Healthy Homes Initiative – became aware of an increasing number of people who were struggling.
Gooddeeds
A homeless man selling chocolate on the street was her first project. “I gave him a dollar and told him to keep the chocolate, but he said I had paid for it so I had to take a box,” she recalls. “I saw him every week after that, but he never asked me for anything – I’d just stop, chat and ask how he was.”
She has since helped him find accommodation.
Sheridan’s good deeds continued and her blog became a fully fledged online venture. The Planet Humanity Project aims to support at least one charity, community project or individual each month with goods donated by businesses.
Recent recipients include Sheree’s s $2 Lunches,s, a Tauranga ga initiative e that provides s school lunches,s, ReTree, which plants treesrees in Tanzaniaania and India, ia, and Kitten Inn, nn, a cat rescue shelter.
Go-getter etter Sheridan, who has s a BA majoring in sociall sciences and is now studying for a Masters s of Management, is now a pro at asking businesses ses to contribute. Most, shehe says, are happy to provide de goods in return for a blog og mention.
Donated ated items are collected d and stored in her family’s Manukau garage before being distributed by a dedicated group of volunteers.
Sheridan credits her parents for her compassion and incredible work ethic. “They were amazing – they supported all the kids any way they could. We’re not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination. We didn’t grow up with a lot of money, but we made do.”