Ten years ago, doctors diagnosed Shawnee Smith’s friend with HIV/AIDS. Thereafter, all of his friends and associates refused to touch or even visit him. But Shawnee gave her time each week to massage and give compassionate aid to this dying man. She spent this special time with him each week until he passed. Because of this profound experience, Shawnee established The Heart Touch Project, a non-profit educational and service organization dedicated to the delivery of compassionate massage and care, free of charge to homebound and hospitalized men, women, and children.

What started with one courageous women has grown into a group of over 300 dedicated volunteers who give their time and spirit each week to show compassion and bring caring to ill and isolated members of the greater Los Angeles community. Today, not only do volunteers visit people with HIV/AIDS, but they also see the isolated elderly, people with ALS, cancer, MD, CP, and infants and children in hospitals and hospice care.

What Shawnee has created and carried out represents a true, unselfish act of compassion and caring that literally touches each and every ailing client every day. She believes so strongly in this work that she funded the entire organization solely on her own for the first few years of its existence. Shawnee continues to donate hours of her time and energy each week overseeing the organization. She also continues to visit clients on a regular basis.

Shawnee was inspired by the profound experience she shared with her friend as he lay dying from AIDS. She was truly moved and honored that she could care for him and console him in his last days. Shawnee continually inspires, and is in turn inspired by, the volunteers who wish to work with The Heart Touch Project. Shawnee’s example ignites the soul of caring and compassion in her volunteers, reminding us all of what good we can––and should––do for those less fortunate than ourselves.

To learn more about Shawnee and her cause, and how you can make a difference, please visit:
www.hearttouch.org.

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