Honorees
Jimmy Cox
Through the Safe Step Cares website, Cox received more than 30 nominations from his friends and family in the area. It was enough to make Safe Step’s monthly list of candidates. Safe Step receives dozens of nominations monthly, chooses the most deserving, and then invites its team members to vote on the winner. Cox won November’s popular vote. “This is the gift of a lifetime and one that will change Jimmy’s life forever,” said Jimmy’s mom Helen Nonnemacher. “Safe Step not only donated the tub, but they also sent a team of professionals to install it and a video team to capture all of the excitement. They were so kind and Jimmy warmed up to them immediately.” Cox was diagnosed with Klinefelter syndrome as an infant. It is a chromosomal condition that affects male physical and cognitive development. Cox has also battled cancer and a number of other ailments and recently broke his leg. Of the many nominations, one said, “Jimmy has never let his condition define him. He is upbeat and warm-hearted and possesses an innocence that we all would like to have. He has just not had any luck health-wise but continues to smile and touch people. Jimmy just needs a shot in the arm or kindness. And now he has one. Says Safe Step Cares coordinator Derek Farley: “Jimmy is what the Safe Step Cares program is all about. This company changes lives every day with its product and our president Mike Duffer vowed to give back to those less fortunate from day one. We were impressed with the nominations. Our team of safety specialists felt he deserved an early Christmas present and we know our product will bring comfort and joy to Jimmy.” Cox volunteers at a local food kitchen and is nicknamed The Meat Sheriff due to the seriousness in which he takes his duties of delegating the ham distribution for sandwiches. He was all smiles upon receiving the tub and expressed immense gratitude. “Thank you so much,” said Cox. “I am not sharing this with my mom and dad.” With his mom in a warm embrace and surrounded by loved ones, he reconsidered and said, “Well, maybe with my mom.”
Kaitlyn Weaver & Anna Grace McDonald 2017 Revisit
We call them Alabaster’s Angels, two young ladies from a small town in Alabama, both hindered but not defeated by Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. Each received a tub through Safe Step Cares and we dropped in on them in 2017 to check on their progress. As you’ll see, both are having better lives and both credit the tub for making a positive difference in their homes.
Adam Roen Revisit 2017
It’s been a long road back. When we first met him, he was getting around very slowly and painfully. Flash forward two years after our donation and he’s running a basketball camp for young kids. He is moving much more fluidly and credits his Safe Step tub for getting him through the tough days and assisting him in his rehabilitation overall. As fun as the delivery was, the checkin visit was even better. To watch him keep up with his kids and others at the camp was priceless. On the revisits, we try to make a gesture relevant to the recipient. In this case, we bought the campers t-shirts, which they had never had, treated them to lunch (another first), and made a $1000 to the camp to offset the bills of this all-volunteer camp. The video tells the rest of the story!
Shirley Perring
The company’s founder Mike Duffer made a promise to his mother, who kept his company alive during early tough times, in that if the company had success, he would give back to the communities in which he does business. He created a national program of giving called Safe Step Cares, which has given away nearly 50 tubs in four years. When Duffer read the letter from Shirley, he decided to do one better. He would donate 2 state-of-the-art hydrotherapeutic tubs due to the number of residents and he would also donate toilet paper for life the facility. And it wasn’t a PR fly-by, as Duffer and his PR agency’s president Derek Farley have made numerous visits to Crestview to meet with the Manor’s facility director Becky Brice Nash and the Manor’s biggest fan, Ms. Perring. Safe Step’s employees recently voted the Crestview Manor give away the most popular donation in the program’s four-year history. Perring’s daughter Ronda decided to see if she could arrange another miracle: a walk-in shower for her mother, who has spent her entire life giving while never asking for something herself. Duffer immediately approved the request and Farley coordinated a scheme that would keep Shirley out of the house for 6 hours while the tub was being installed. “Shirley is the very heartbeat of Safe Step Cares. She is the poster person for the philanthropy and when we heard that she could use an assist herself, giving her a shower was one of the quickest decisions in company history.” Farley met Perring for lunch after a few bogus meetings were created by her company Jackson Hewitt, who was also in the know. Farley and Perring said their goodbyes in the parking lot of Cracker Barrel and then Farley raced to the Perring residence, where Ronda, daughter Sinder and husband Don were patiently waiting. When Perring entered her home, she yelled, “what is Derek’s rental car doing next door and I can still smell his cologne.” Busted, Farley tried to backpedal and say he just wanted to meet her husband and daughters. But it was too late as Farley’s agency video guru John Deaver had the cameras rolling. An installer was spotted and then Farley led her to the bathroom, where Perring broke down in tears upon seeing her new walk-in shower. “This is beyond amazing. Mike Duffer, Stuart (Hall, Safe Step CFO), and Derek are angels on earth. They restore my faith in companies, they restore my faith in humanity.” Farley also visited Crestview Manor, treating the residents to pizza for lunch, which he delivered himself. “I’m just a proud messenger with the greatest PR gig in the world. Mike and Stuart give me the opportunity to play Superman but they are the real superheroes.”
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