September 22, 2025 • 25 mins
“Find something you're passionate about that helps others.”
In this episode of Up Your Average, Keith and Doug interview Carmel High School Hall of Fame teacher Kelly Meyer who shares how volunteering has expanded her world.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
➡️ Why you should volunteer
➡️ Where you can make an impact in your own community
➡️ How to care for others without neglecting your own health
🤝 Connect with Keith and Doug
🌐 Website: https://www.gimbalfinancial.com
🔗 Keith on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-tyner-a941a58/
🔗 Doug on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doug-shrieve-0271989/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kelly (00:00):
Not everybody wants to travel around the world and go
(00:02):
out of the country, but just inyour backyard, you know, making
connections and, and, you know,doing food drives, helping at
gleaners, helping, you know, anyway you can just to help other
people out. And and that's agreat way to expand your world
and and kinda get out of ourown, you know, it's not about
(00:23):
me. It's about helping others,and that's what we're supposed
to do.
Caleb (00:27):
Welcome to the Up Your Average podcast, where Keith and
Doug give no nonsense advice tolevel up your life. So buckle up
and listen closely to Up YourAverage.
Keith (00:47):
Alright, Doug. Here we are. How's it going?
Doug (00:49):
Here we are. Gimbalfinancial.edu today.
Keith (00:53):
EDU and not just the edu. Carmel. Yeah. Near and dear to
your heart.
Doug (00:59):
Near and dear. I love Carmel. I've sent all of our
four boys to WoodbrookElementary, which I understand
our next guest has someexperience there.
Keith (01:10):
Well, we are honored to have a hall of fame teacher,
Kelly Meyer, join us today.Kelly, how are you?
Kelly (01:17):
I'm doing well. Thanks for asking. How are you guys?
Doug (01:21):
Kelly, if you're a hall of fame teacher, like where's your
jersey? Like shouldn't you bewearing like some kind of jersey
with, you know, your numberretired or something like that?
Kelly (01:31):
No, I thought maybe I'd get that but I have a plaque
outside of the performing arts.
Doug (01:36):
Okay.
Kelly (01:37):
The hall of fame hall right outside of the performing
arts center.
Doug (01:43):
Oh, I love that. We don't have that Keith.
Keith (01:45):
Does the plaque have your face on it? Is
Kelly (01:48):
It it does. And I make sure it was the best picture. I
had a picture with my water andI'm like, oh, that's the one
we're using. So yeah, it'spretty cool.
Doug (01:59):
Man, you that is really impressive. I love that for you.
And for your family. What alegacy thing.
Keith (02:06):
Not only does Doug have a bias towards Carmel, he's got a
sweet spot in his heart towardsBall State in Muncie, Indiana.
Sure.
Doug (02:15):
Yes, for sure. Yeah. We're, we're sending our oldest
boy there right now. And I'm, Igrew up in Muncie, my wife and I
both did. So we're, we're bigfans of Ball State.
Keith (02:27):
Well, Kelly, we were talking in a past podcast about
the idea that the bigger yourproblems are in your world, the
harder it is to kind of livemore fulfilled. So the smaller
your problems will become inyour world, the bigger life
gets, the more enjoyable itgets. And there's things that we
(02:50):
were talking about that canexpand the size of your world.
You can have a longer timeframeyou think about things, you can
be more thoughtful, you cantravel, you can add wisdom to
your situation or courage. Andone of the things I liked from a
conversation I had with SteveHaynes, introduced us is that
(03:11):
you not only are a Hall of Fameteacher and Teacher of the Year,
but you also do a lot ofvolunteering.
Maybe you could tell us a littlebit about why you do that and
how you got started in that.
Kelly (03:23):
Okay, well, started back when my kids were young, I used
to, take them over to Carmelback in the day, it was called
Carmel, Care Center and now it'sCarmel Health and Living,
because I had a grandpa thatlived there. And I used to be
scared to go and visit him. Ididn't like the smells. Didn't I
(03:44):
was scared around the oldpeople. Now I'm one of them.
But I just told my husband, Isaid, I don't want our kids to
be scared visiting elderlypeople. So we started going once
a week to visit people. And thenwe started doing like a drive
and collecting donations andtaking gifts to each of the
(04:05):
residents. My kids, we take alittle wagon, and take little
toiletries and stuffed animalsand things. And just to get them
used to being around olderpeople, then we kind of made it
into a, you know, Blake andMorgan both pick their favorite
people that live there and wewould bring McDonald's and sit
and eat lunch or dinner withthem.
(04:26):
And it took off from there. Andthen I've started having
students at school. AroundChristmas time, we do a big
collection and then a lot of myfirst graders and my teammates,
kids come and join us and we godoor to door passing out gifts
to all the residents. So that'show it all started back when
Blake and Morgan were probablythree and four and now they're
(04:52):
32 and 30. So been doing it fora while.
Keith (04:58):
Back in the day, there were these things called paper
boys back in back in the oldendays. I had a paper route that
involved delivering newspapersand it was called a nursing home
at the time. They probablycalled it an assisted living
today. But I don't even knowthat I'd ever been in one
(05:19):
before. I was in there droppingnewspapers off and it is a
little traumatic for a 12 yearold delivering newspapers, but I
think that's really wise to toget the kids like, I felt like
you have a heart for theassisted livings too, don't you,
Doug?
Doug (05:32):
Yeah. We we do, like, Christmas flowers and send
little Christmas trees to thenursing home right by our house.
Yeah, that's a lot of fun.
Keith (05:41):
Yeah, that's really cool. Now, the more recently, I
thought you were involved withwas it homeless people that you
spent time with? Or
Kelly (05:55):
Yes. Yeah. I went spent several years ago, I've gone on
13 or 14 mission trips throughour church Northview. And I went
on a trip to New York, and weworked with an organization
called City Relief. And two, twofriends that had gone there,
Matt and Sandy Gay startedCircle City Relief in
(06:16):
Indianapolis.
So, my husband, when I got backfrom New York, I said, I want to
start volunteering with CircleCity Relief. And he's like,
Well, you can do that. I'm notgoing to do it every month. And
he does it with me every fourthSunday, and we've been doing it
ever since. So we go on a Sundayand we usually get a couple of
(06:37):
friends to go with us, my bestfriend and a former coworker.
And we try to get our daughterand her fiance and brother to
come and they basically serve weprep Little Caesars pizzas, and
fruit and all kinds of things.And then you go out to the
serving site downtown. And lastweek, we had close to 200 people
(07:02):
that are either homeless or justnot living in the best
conditions. They offer biblicalcounseling. They offer addiction
support and all kinds ofservices outside of the food
that's donated.
So yeah, it's become our, ourmonthly thing. And we have
friends that like to sign up andactually have had some students
(07:24):
that have come. And a couple ofthem who have met people that
we've befriended and keep intouch with them. So yeah, that's
another another easy way to getout and kind of get out of your
comfort zone. You know, we weused to think, I just remember
my parents taking us downtown.
And when we'd start to drivedowntown, we'd roll our windows
(07:46):
up and lock the doors, becausehe didn't want anybody getting
into your car or you know,walking down the street and
crossing the street so youdidn't have to go by a homeless
person. And now I that's the bigjoke. Everybody's like, Oh, she
has any left over pizza when wego on our Chicago trip, she's
gonna want to stop and give itto somebody. So to not be scared
(08:09):
there, I mean, we're we could bein that same position, you know,
just to lose a job, lose, youknow, have an illness or
whatever. And that could be usout on the street.
So just trying to keep that inmy mind that they deserve to be
loved just like everybody else.
Keith (08:27):
I don't know about you, Doug, but I think when I
consider homeless people, itjust occurs to me that that's
somebody's child. Absolutely.How I process it and, and we've
had friends whose children havemade some bad decisions and
(08:48):
people can end up there thatdidn't really even know they
were on that path and it'spretty humbling. My experience,
it's humbling just to look ahomeless person in the eye and
talk to them because they're areal being. They're human.
Yeah.
Kelly (09:03):
Steve Haynes actually came with us a couple weeks ago,
and they asked him because it'sthe first time he'd been to the
serving site, how he felt and hesaid humble. That was the that's
the first thing he said. And,years ago, we worked with
another organization called thepoor house. And, I walked by I
was wearing a heavy jacket thatwas my son's. And this guy
(09:23):
stopped me and he said, Hey, youknow, where'd you get that
jacket?
I saw it's my son's. He goes toschool in Alabama. We got to
talking and he said, I'membarrassed to say but he said,
I, lost my mom got into somedrugs and bad situations and
ended up homeless. And, I toldhim I was a teacher in Carmel.
And he said, I went to Carmel.
(09:44):
And my best friend was with meat the time. And he turned
around and told me when hegraduated, and he graduated with
me. And my parents turned aroundand just started sobbing. She's
like, Oh my god, he lived acouple houses down from me and
didn't even recognize the guy.And he's like, Yep, I had
everything.
My mom died. I lost it all. Andnow I'm on the street. So yeah,
(10:05):
you just, you just never know.So
Keith (10:09):
I would imagine that the more homeless people you spend
time with your world does happento grow because your problems
just seem relativelyinsignificant when when you're
hanging out with people thatreally have some some serious
problems.
Kelly (10:25):
Yeah, it's it's definitely eye opening. My
husband kind of laughs becausewhen we go, I have a friend
Nicole and a friend namedMichelle that we've met. And
they're like, if we can get abus ride there, is there a way
you can bring us home? So Jeff'slike you said, she's on the way
home. She lives in Speedway.
That's not really on the wayback to normal. But you know,
(10:47):
when they pick up all the foodand clothing and everything, I'm
like, come on, we gotta helpthem out. So yep, I I have
trouble saying no sometimes. Butit's it's cool to see that we've
made so many friends over theyears that trust us, and they
look forward to seeing us. Imean, obviously, you don't want
to see them on the on the, youknow, the serving line every
(11:08):
week, you hope that they wouldget out of that situation.
But just knowing that they trustyou and they come alongside you
and want to volunteer becausethey know that organization is
really helping them too.
Keith (11:21):
What if we pivot a little bit, and I probably should have
asked permission to pivot thisdirection before we go.
Doug (11:28):
Like, you
Keith (11:30):
volunteered with breast cancer awareness and things and
then appeared that then youfound out that you had cancer
yourself. Maybe talk, if youdon't mind, a little bit about
process, like life's good andthen all of a sudden you go to
(11:50):
the doctor and it shifts andthen you become the one that you
were helping.
Kelly (11:54):
Yeah, exactly. Well, my mom, about twenty eight years
ago was diagnosed with breastcancer. And my sister, Kathy and
I were like, we should dosomething. So we started doing
the race for the cure walk, andwe just walked with mom. And
then I was like, you know what,I want to do a team.
So, you know, we did it for,gosh, over twenty years. And we
(12:18):
ended up being one of thelargest fundraising teams. Our
team name was faithful friends.And it just got to be almost an
obsession of mine. I was like, Iwant to raise funds for this.
So we would set team goals. Andyou know, we'd have anywhere
from 20 to a 100 people on ourteam raising money. Most of the
money was raised by just a fewpeople, but I'd send money or
(12:41):
send pledge letters to anyone Isent a Christmas card to. And,
with self addressed envelope,they'd send it back. And then we
were just all about being one ofthe top fundraising teams.
You know, you'd win the partytent, then you get to walk and
do all the stuff. And one yearwe had, there was a bras. I
(13:03):
don't know, a bra event down inBroad Ripple, they had all these
leftover bras where they didlike this bar bar crawl. And
they're like, we're justpitching them. And we're like,
hey, we'll hang them around ourtent.
So everybody knew which tent wasours. And he just did it for
years. And then over the years,I just found like, one of my
dearest friends, my kindergartenteacher, Ina, was diagnosed.
(13:26):
Both of my best friends, Pattyand Lisa's moms had breast
cancer. And then just hundredsof friends over the years.
And then in 2020, right duringCOVID, I was diagnosed. I was
like, Oh, this is great. So Iwas blessed that it was found
early. And I had threelumpectomies and radiation and
(13:52):
five years of a lovely calltamoxifen. But just got off of
that a couple weeks ago.
And so far so good. But yeah,it's you think, okay, I'm doing
this for all these other people.And then it's like, oh, now I'm
one of those people. And andjust so many people, you know,
when you think one out of everyeight women are going to be
diagnosed, and just want to finda cure for all cancers.
Keith (14:17):
Did feel like when you were told that you had it that
your world was shrinking? Or howdid that? How did you like that
instant? Like how did youprocess and move forward at that
moment?
Kelly (14:28):
Well, it was it was interesting because I had just
done a fundraiser. I did ajewelry party at my house. And
so I don't know, there'sprobably 30 women. And I said,
You know what, I just have thisgut instinct that when I go to
the doctor this week, he's gonnasay I have breast cancer. So one
of the ladies said, Yeah, Isaid, I don't know.
(14:50):
I just it just was this weirdfeeling. And, one of the ladies
said, Would you mind if we justcircled up and prayed for you?
And they did. And then I went tochurch that week and they did
this miracle prayer and and thislady prayed over me. I said, I
don't know.
I just feel like I'm gonna bethe one out of the three
daughters. And sure enough, Iwas. But I just felt like people
(15:11):
from all the years working withpeople supporting breast cancer,
so many people reached out tome, you know, former parents
that I had their kids in school,who had been through breast
cancer sent letters. One one guythat now plays basketball in
college, drove over to my houseand just put a letter in my
mailbox with a breast cancerribbon just saying thinking of
(15:33):
you, Mrs. Meyer.
And yeah, so I felt I felt allthe love from all the people in
the community. So that was agood feeling during a time when
you couldn't be around anybody,you know, because of COVID.
Keith (15:48):
That was definitely a kind of confining time. And
would assume even like theloneliness of trying to get the
treatments would be differentbecause my wife was going
through cancer at that time,treatment, and I was just
clueless and they literallythrew me out of the cancer
(16:11):
treatment place. And so sobefore that, at least there was
some camaraderie of familymembers But in once they once
they shut those down, that waspretty isolating.
Kelly (16:21):
Yeah, you had to sit up. I remember my husband was out in
the parking lot. And I just toldmyself during that time when I
went through the radiation, Isaid, I'm going to make friends
with people in the waiting roomwho are going through the same
thing as I am, or just goingthrough radiation. So I made it
a goal to just smile and say,Hey, like, what are you in here
(16:43):
for? How many treatments haveyou had?
And because I thought, knowwhat, we're all in this
together. And it's, it'sdepressing knowing that
especially for someone like mewho's an extrovert. I don't have
anybody to talk with, you know,I was like, okay, this is
awkward. I when I had one of mysurgeries, some random gentleman
came walking in and asked me howI was doing. And the nurse comes
(17:05):
in and she said, Is this yourhusband?
I said, No, it's just some guy.I said, he must have thought,
Oh, she needs someone to talkto. But yeah, it just definitely
was a tough time. But I was veryblessed that it was caught
early. And it's been great to beable to encourage other people.
One of my sorority sisters andteammates I taught with was
(17:28):
diagnosed like a few monthsbefore I was. So and now Carmel
Schools have started a supportgroup for breast cancer
survivors. So lots of peoplegoing through it. Actually, a
friend I'm meeting tonight. Oneof the buddies that we, each
month we take out a friend ofmine who is on the spectrum,
(17:48):
there's a group of us that goout to dinner.
And both of his sisters havegone through breast cancer. His
sister that was my studentteacher was just diagnosed
recently. And she's gettingready to go through, you know,
having the surgery and all thatstuff. So yeah, it's definitely
hits close to home.
Doug (18:06):
Hey, wait, you said you take out a buddy. Is a buddy a
student?
Kelly (18:10):
It well, he is a friend. It's kind of funny when I
started taking my kids to thenursing home. A co worker of
mine that was a resourceteacher, Her mom was at Carmel
Care Center. And I said, I wouldlove to, you know, go visit your
mom. So I started taking my kidsto visit her.
(18:33):
And then one of my students'grandma, her name was Gayulo was
there. So I would take Kelsey tosee her grandma. And then it
just extended into this biggergroup. Well, when when Margaret
passed away, and I called Peggyand I said, know, I'd love to
take your son out and Chris hasautism and he's in his 50s now.
(18:55):
But I said, could I take him outjust for dinner or something?
And it ended up being like, youknow, fourteen, fifteen years
ago that we took him to Ben andAri's for dinner. And now it's
monthly dinners with Chris eachtime. It needs to be a different
restaurant. He calls me thenight before to give me a
(19:17):
reminder that the gang needs tocome. So tonight we're going to
Wolfies and Carmel.
Our group has grown, we have mybest friend and then Nikita and
Julie that I taught with atCherry Tree. But they both have
like four or five kids each. Sohe gets very frustrated when
(19:37):
it's just Kelly and Lisa, andhis mom and maybe Julie and
Nikita and maybe one kid. He'salways like, well, where are the
others? You know?
So it's it gets harder becauseeveryone's schedules are
different. But yes, we, that isour monthly thing. We get
together. We took a break for awhile because he was having a
rough time being able to, bekind to his mom in public. So
(20:03):
kind of had a little time outperiod.
But yes, we are back at ittonight. And before we even
order dinner, he's going to beasking where we're going next
month and calling me on thefifteenth to remind me.
Doug (20:13):
So Kelly, like, one of the things I think about, I'm an
extrovert. I love to be outthere. I love to be hanging out
with people, talking,encouraging them. And, like an
airplane, when the oxygen masksdrop, you gotta put it on
yourself before you put it onsomebody else.
Kelly (20:30):
Yeah.
Doug (20:31):
How does the encourager get encouraged?
Kelly (20:34):
Well, there's, there's that. My mom got me a sign that
says stop her before she saysyes again, or something like
that. And I have learned, Ithink, since I went through the
breast cancer, talking to mysister, Kathy, and different
(20:54):
friends that, you know, I haveto take care of myself. And I
think when I went through thecancer and had gained weight and
everything, I was very down onmyself. And I said, I think over
the years when, like, when myson was going through a phase of
not being very kind to his mom,I thought, well, you know what,
I'm going to help other people,because that makes me feel good
(21:17):
inside.
And they enjoy being around me.But then I got to the point, I'm
like, I'm doing it for so manypeople that it wears me down. So
I am now involved in a programat Carmel Wellness for the
teachers where they havecounselors, dietitians, personal
(21:37):
trainers, exercise classes. Sothis year is the year to get
healthy and be around so thatwhen I am with my grandkids, I
can, you know, get up off theground and not have them making
fun of the sounds I make as I'mtrying to move.
Doug (21:55):
That's great. So you're making a big investment in
yourself this year. Sounds
Kelly (21:59):
That's that's my goal.
Doug (22:01):
Yeah. Yeah. Man, Keith, if I had the title this podcast, if
I was Caleb, our podcastproducer, I think I'd highlight
I'm going to make friends. Ijust I really appreciate that,
Kelly, how you're in the waitingroom thinking, what could I do
here to be a light to otherpeople or to open your
(22:23):
worldview. And it's all aboutrelationships.
And so just to be able to make afriend is pretty impressive.
Kelly (22:32):
Yeah. I will definitely be one of the older ladies
that's in a nursing home, not insomeone's basement or living
alone. I'm I'm all about beingaround other people to the point
that, when you have teammateswho are are not like that, I
just I'm like, hey, guys, youknow, we don't eat together
(22:52):
because during COVID, everybodycloses their doors. But I you
were talking about what am Idoing for myself? I take that
twenty five minutes or so tolisten to soft, smooth jazz and
have my quiet time, because Idon't normally have that quiet
time.
So I know that that is somethingI need to work on, and getting
rest and eating properly. So, myteammates have helped me
(23:14):
understand that. But yeah, I'mall about meeting people.
Keith (23:22):
Well, you've been real generous with your time, Kelly.
Is there any parting words you'dwant to tell our friends that
they were thinking aboutexpanding their world with
volunteering or anything?
Kelly (23:32):
Yeah, I would just say, find something you're passionate
about. I when I retire, I wantto work with young adults with
disabilities. And, you know, Ithink just going out and finding
an area where you feel like youcan help others out, whether
it's, you know, doing missiontrips. You know, I know, like my
(23:53):
husband has said, not everybodywants to travel around the world
and go out of the country. Butjust in your backyard, you know,
making connections and, and, youknow, doing food drives, helping
at gleaners, helping, you know,any way you can just to help
other people out.
And and that's a great way toexpand your world and and kind
(24:14):
of get out of our own, You know,it's not about me, it's about
helping others. And that's whatwe're supposed to do.
Doug (24:21):
Be sweet.
Keith (24:22):
Yeah, thanks. Before we part, you want to show off your
friend that you're hanging outwith there to our friends?
Kelly (24:27):
Come here. Hold on. Let me get her. Come here. Oh, she
thinks for playing a game.
Alright. Alright.
Doug (24:40):
This is Harper the dog. Right?
Kelly (24:43):
Rose. You say hi. She's like, where's the sound coming
from? She's a licker. That's theone thing.
Like, we've never had a dogthat's a licker, but my
goodness. We know that's the wayyou show your love, but there's
other ways You can just lay
Keith (25:01):
in the
Doug (25:01):
trash. There are other ways. Volunteer.
Kelly (25:04):
Don't take care.
Keith (25:05):
Kelly, thanks for hanging out with us. You have a great
afternoon.
Kelly (25:08):
Thank you so much. You guys too. Take care.
Doug (25:11):
Bye bye. See you.
Kelly (25:12):
Bye.
Not everybody wants to travel around the world and go
(00:02):
out of the country, but just inyour backyard, you know, making
connections and, and, you know,doing food drives, helping at
gleaners, helping, you know, anyway you can just to help other
people out. And and that's agreat way to expand your world
and and kinda get out of ourown, you know, it's not about
(00:23):
me. It's about helping others,and that's what we're supposed
to do.
Caleb (00:27):
Welcome to the Up Your Average podcast, where Keith and
Doug give no nonsense advice tolevel up your life. So buckle up
and listen closely to Up YourAverage.
Keith (00:47):
Alright, Doug. Here we are. How's it going?
Doug (00:49):
Here we are. Gimbalfinancial.edu today.
Keith (00:53):
EDU and not just the edu. Carmel. Yeah. Near and dear to
your heart.
Doug (00:59):
Near and dear. I love Carmel. I've sent all of our
four boys to WoodbrookElementary, which I understand
our next guest has someexperience there.
Keith (01:10):
Well, we are honored to have a hall of fame teacher,
Kelly Meyer, join us today.Kelly, how are you?
Kelly (01:17):
I'm doing well. Thanks for asking. How are you guys?
Doug (01:21):
Kelly, if you're a hall of fame teacher, like where's your
jersey? Like shouldn't you bewearing like some kind of jersey
with, you know, your numberretired or something like that?
Kelly (01:31):
No, I thought maybe I'd get that but I have a plaque
outside of the performing arts.
Doug (01:36):
Okay.
Kelly (01:37):
The hall of fame hall right outside of the performing
arts center.
Doug (01:43):
Oh, I love that. We don't have that Keith.
Keith (01:45):
Does the plaque have your face on it? Is
Kelly (01:48):
It it does. And I make sure it was the best picture. I
had a picture with my water andI'm like, oh, that's the one
we're using. So yeah, it'spretty cool.
Doug (01:59):
Man, you that is really impressive. I love that for you.
And for your family. What alegacy thing.
Keith (02:06):
Not only does Doug have a bias towards Carmel, he's got a
sweet spot in his heart towardsBall State in Muncie, Indiana.
Sure.
Doug (02:15):
Yes, for sure. Yeah. We're, we're sending our oldest
boy there right now. And I'm, Igrew up in Muncie, my wife and I
both did. So we're, we're bigfans of Ball State.
Keith (02:27):
Well, Kelly, we were talking in a past podcast about
the idea that the bigger yourproblems are in your world, the
harder it is to kind of livemore fulfilled. So the smaller
your problems will become inyour world, the bigger life
gets, the more enjoyable itgets. And there's things that we
(02:50):
were talking about that canexpand the size of your world.
You can have a longer timeframeyou think about things, you can
be more thoughtful, you cantravel, you can add wisdom to
your situation or courage. Andone of the things I liked from a
conversation I had with SteveHaynes, introduced us is that
(03:11):
you not only are a Hall of Fameteacher and Teacher of the Year,
but you also do a lot ofvolunteering.
Maybe you could tell us a littlebit about why you do that and
how you got started in that.
Kelly (03:23):
Okay, well, started back when my kids were young, I used
to, take them over to Carmelback in the day, it was called
Carmel, Care Center and now it'sCarmel Health and Living,
because I had a grandpa thatlived there. And I used to be
scared to go and visit him. Ididn't like the smells. Didn't I
(03:44):
was scared around the oldpeople. Now I'm one of them.
But I just told my husband, Isaid, I don't want our kids to
be scared visiting elderlypeople. So we started going once
a week to visit people. And thenwe started doing like a drive
and collecting donations andtaking gifts to each of the
(04:05):
residents. My kids, we take alittle wagon, and take little
toiletries and stuffed animalsand things. And just to get them
used to being around olderpeople, then we kind of made it
into a, you know, Blake andMorgan both pick their favorite
people that live there and wewould bring McDonald's and sit
and eat lunch or dinner withthem.
(04:26):
And it took off from there. Andthen I've started having
students at school. AroundChristmas time, we do a big
collection and then a lot of myfirst graders and my teammates,
kids come and join us and we godoor to door passing out gifts
to all the residents. So that'show it all started back when
Blake and Morgan were probablythree and four and now they're
(04:52):
32 and 30. So been doing it fora while.
Keith (04:58):
Back in the day, there were these things called paper
boys back in back in the oldendays. I had a paper route that
involved delivering newspapersand it was called a nursing home
at the time. They probablycalled it an assisted living
today. But I don't even knowthat I'd ever been in one
(05:19):
before. I was in there droppingnewspapers off and it is a
little traumatic for a 12 yearold delivering newspapers, but I
think that's really wise to toget the kids like, I felt like
you have a heart for theassisted livings too, don't you,
Doug?
Doug (05:32):
Yeah. We we do, like, Christmas flowers and send
little Christmas trees to thenursing home right by our house.
Yeah, that's a lot of fun.
Keith (05:41):
Yeah, that's really cool. Now, the more recently, I
thought you were involved withwas it homeless people that you
spent time with? Or
Kelly (05:55):
Yes. Yeah. I went spent several years ago, I've gone on
13 or 14 mission trips throughour church Northview. And I went
on a trip to New York, and weworked with an organization
called City Relief. And two, twofriends that had gone there,
Matt and Sandy Gay startedCircle City Relief in
(06:16):
Indianapolis.
So, my husband, when I got backfrom New York, I said, I want to
start volunteering with CircleCity Relief. And he's like,
Well, you can do that. I'm notgoing to do it every month. And
he does it with me every fourthSunday, and we've been doing it
ever since. So we go on a Sundayand we usually get a couple of
(06:37):
friends to go with us, my bestfriend and a former coworker.
And we try to get our daughterand her fiance and brother to
come and they basically serve weprep Little Caesars pizzas, and
fruit and all kinds of things.And then you go out to the
serving site downtown. And lastweek, we had close to 200 people
(07:02):
that are either homeless or justnot living in the best
conditions. They offer biblicalcounseling. They offer addiction
support and all kinds ofservices outside of the food
that's donated.
So yeah, it's become our, ourmonthly thing. And we have
friends that like to sign up andactually have had some students
(07:24):
that have come. And a couple ofthem who have met people that
we've befriended and keep intouch with them. So yeah, that's
another another easy way to getout and kind of get out of your
comfort zone. You know, we weused to think, I just remember
my parents taking us downtown.
And when we'd start to drivedowntown, we'd roll our windows
(07:46):
up and lock the doors, becausehe didn't want anybody getting
into your car or you know,walking down the street and
crossing the street so youdidn't have to go by a homeless
person. And now I that's the bigjoke. Everybody's like, Oh, she
has any left over pizza when wego on our Chicago trip, she's
gonna want to stop and give itto somebody. So to not be scared
(08:09):
there, I mean, we're we could bein that same position, you know,
just to lose a job, lose, youknow, have an illness or
whatever. And that could be usout on the street.
So just trying to keep that inmy mind that they deserve to be
loved just like everybody else.
Keith (08:27):
I don't know about you, Doug, but I think when I
consider homeless people, itjust occurs to me that that's
somebody's child. Absolutely.How I process it and, and we've
had friends whose children havemade some bad decisions and
(08:48):
people can end up there thatdidn't really even know they
were on that path and it'spretty humbling. My experience,
it's humbling just to look ahomeless person in the eye and
talk to them because they're areal being. They're human.
Yeah.
Kelly (09:03):
Steve Haynes actually came with us a couple weeks ago,
and they asked him because it'sthe first time he'd been to the
serving site, how he felt and hesaid humble. That was the that's
the first thing he said. And,years ago, we worked with
another organization called thepoor house. And, I walked by I
was wearing a heavy jacket thatwas my son's. And this guy
(09:23):
stopped me and he said, Hey, youknow, where'd you get that
jacket?
I saw it's my son's. He goes toschool in Alabama. We got to
talking and he said, I'membarrassed to say but he said,
I, lost my mom got into somedrugs and bad situations and
ended up homeless. And, I toldhim I was a teacher in Carmel.
And he said, I went to Carmel.
(09:44):
And my best friend was with meat the time. And he turned
around and told me when hegraduated, and he graduated with
me. And my parents turned aroundand just started sobbing. She's
like, Oh my god, he lived acouple houses down from me and
didn't even recognize the guy.And he's like, Yep, I had
everything.
My mom died. I lost it all. Andnow I'm on the street. So yeah,
(10:05):
you just, you just never know.So
Keith (10:09):
I would imagine that the more homeless people you spend
time with your world does happento grow because your problems
just seem relativelyinsignificant when when you're
hanging out with people thatreally have some some serious
problems.
Kelly (10:25):
Yeah, it's it's definitely eye opening. My
husband kind of laughs becausewhen we go, I have a friend
Nicole and a friend namedMichelle that we've met. And
they're like, if we can get abus ride there, is there a way
you can bring us home? So Jeff'slike you said, she's on the way
home. She lives in Speedway.
That's not really on the wayback to normal. But you know,
(10:47):
when they pick up all the foodand clothing and everything, I'm
like, come on, we gotta helpthem out. So yep, I I have
trouble saying no sometimes. Butit's it's cool to see that we've
made so many friends over theyears that trust us, and they
look forward to seeing us. Imean, obviously, you don't want
to see them on the on the, youknow, the serving line every
(11:08):
week, you hope that they wouldget out of that situation.
But just knowing that they trustyou and they come alongside you
and want to volunteer becausethey know that organization is
really helping them too.
Keith (11:21):
What if we pivot a little bit, and I probably should have
asked permission to pivot thisdirection before we go.
Doug (11:28):
Like, you
Keith (11:30):
volunteered with breast cancer awareness and things and
then appeared that then youfound out that you had cancer
yourself. Maybe talk, if youdon't mind, a little bit about
process, like life's good andthen all of a sudden you go to
(11:50):
the doctor and it shifts andthen you become the one that you
were helping.
Kelly (11:54):
Yeah, exactly. Well, my mom, about twenty eight years
ago was diagnosed with breastcancer. And my sister, Kathy and
I were like, we should dosomething. So we started doing
the race for the cure walk, andwe just walked with mom. And
then I was like, you know what,I want to do a team.
So, you know, we did it for,gosh, over twenty years. And we
(12:18):
ended up being one of thelargest fundraising teams. Our
team name was faithful friends.And it just got to be almost an
obsession of mine. I was like, Iwant to raise funds for this.
So we would set team goals. Andyou know, we'd have anywhere
from 20 to a 100 people on ourteam raising money. Most of the
money was raised by just a fewpeople, but I'd send money or
(12:41):
send pledge letters to anyone Isent a Christmas card to. And,
with self addressed envelope,they'd send it back. And then we
were just all about being one ofthe top fundraising teams.
You know, you'd win the partytent, then you get to walk and
do all the stuff. And one yearwe had, there was a bras. I
(13:03):
don't know, a bra event down inBroad Ripple, they had all these
leftover bras where they didlike this bar bar crawl. And
they're like, we're justpitching them. And we're like,
hey, we'll hang them around ourtent.
So everybody knew which tent wasours. And he just did it for
years. And then over the years,I just found like, one of my
dearest friends, my kindergartenteacher, Ina, was diagnosed.
(13:26):
Both of my best friends, Pattyand Lisa's moms had breast
cancer. And then just hundredsof friends over the years.
And then in 2020, right duringCOVID, I was diagnosed. I was
like, Oh, this is great. So Iwas blessed that it was found
early. And I had threelumpectomies and radiation and
(13:52):
five years of a lovely calltamoxifen. But just got off of
that a couple weeks ago.
And so far so good. But yeah,it's you think, okay, I'm doing
this for all these other people.And then it's like, oh, now I'm
one of those people. And andjust so many people, you know,
when you think one out of everyeight women are going to be
diagnosed, and just want to finda cure for all cancers.
Keith (14:17):
Did feel like when you were told that you had it that
your world was shrinking? Or howdid that? How did you like that
instant? Like how did youprocess and move forward at that
moment?
Kelly (14:28):
Well, it was it was interesting because I had just
done a fundraiser. I did ajewelry party at my house. And
so I don't know, there'sprobably 30 women. And I said,
You know what, I just have thisgut instinct that when I go to
the doctor this week, he's gonnasay I have breast cancer. So one
of the ladies said, Yeah, Isaid, I don't know.
(14:50):
I just it just was this weirdfeeling. And, one of the ladies
said, Would you mind if we justcircled up and prayed for you?
And they did. And then I went tochurch that week and they did
this miracle prayer and and thislady prayed over me. I said, I
don't know.
I just feel like I'm gonna bethe one out of the three
daughters. And sure enough, Iwas. But I just felt like people
(15:11):
from all the years working withpeople supporting breast cancer,
so many people reached out tome, you know, former parents
that I had their kids in school,who had been through breast
cancer sent letters. One one guythat now plays basketball in
college, drove over to my houseand just put a letter in my
mailbox with a breast cancerribbon just saying thinking of
(15:33):
you, Mrs. Meyer.
And yeah, so I felt I felt allthe love from all the people in
the community. So that was agood feeling during a time when
you couldn't be around anybody,you know, because of COVID.
Keith (15:48):
That was definitely a kind of confining time. And
would assume even like theloneliness of trying to get the
treatments would be differentbecause my wife was going
through cancer at that time,treatment, and I was just
clueless and they literallythrew me out of the cancer
(16:11):
treatment place. And so sobefore that, at least there was
some camaraderie of familymembers But in once they once
they shut those down, that waspretty isolating.
Kelly (16:21):
Yeah, you had to sit up. I remember my husband was out in
the parking lot. And I just toldmyself during that time when I
went through the radiation, Isaid, I'm going to make friends
with people in the waiting roomwho are going through the same
thing as I am, or just goingthrough radiation. So I made it
a goal to just smile and say,Hey, like, what are you in here
(16:43):
for? How many treatments haveyou had?
And because I thought, knowwhat, we're all in this
together. And it's, it'sdepressing knowing that
especially for someone like mewho's an extrovert. I don't have
anybody to talk with, you know,I was like, okay, this is
awkward. I when I had one of mysurgeries, some random gentleman
came walking in and asked me howI was doing. And the nurse comes
(17:05):
in and she said, Is this yourhusband?
I said, No, it's just some guy.I said, he must have thought,
Oh, she needs someone to talkto. But yeah, it just definitely
was a tough time. But I was veryblessed that it was caught
early. And it's been great to beable to encourage other people.
One of my sorority sisters andteammates I taught with was
(17:28):
diagnosed like a few monthsbefore I was. So and now Carmel
Schools have started a supportgroup for breast cancer
survivors. So lots of peoplegoing through it. Actually, a
friend I'm meeting tonight. Oneof the buddies that we, each
month we take out a friend ofmine who is on the spectrum,
(17:48):
there's a group of us that goout to dinner.
And both of his sisters havegone through breast cancer. His
sister that was my studentteacher was just diagnosed
recently. And she's gettingready to go through, you know,
having the surgery and all thatstuff. So yeah, it's definitely
hits close to home.
Doug (18:06):
Hey, wait, you said you take out a buddy. Is a buddy a
student?
Kelly (18:10):
It well, he is a friend. It's kind of funny when I
started taking my kids to thenursing home. A co worker of
mine that was a resourceteacher, Her mom was at Carmel
Care Center. And I said, I wouldlove to, you know, go visit your
mom. So I started taking my kidsto visit her.
(18:33):
And then one of my students'grandma, her name was Gayulo was
there. So I would take Kelsey tosee her grandma. And then it
just extended into this biggergroup. Well, when when Margaret
passed away, and I called Peggyand I said, know, I'd love to
take your son out and Chris hasautism and he's in his 50s now.
(18:55):
But I said, could I take him outjust for dinner or something?
And it ended up being like, youknow, fourteen, fifteen years
ago that we took him to Ben andAri's for dinner. And now it's
monthly dinners with Chris eachtime. It needs to be a different
restaurant. He calls me thenight before to give me a
(19:17):
reminder that the gang needs tocome. So tonight we're going to
Wolfies and Carmel.
Our group has grown, we have mybest friend and then Nikita and
Julie that I taught with atCherry Tree. But they both have
like four or five kids each. Sohe gets very frustrated when
(19:37):
it's just Kelly and Lisa, andhis mom and maybe Julie and
Nikita and maybe one kid. He'salways like, well, where are the
others? You know?
So it's it gets harder becauseeveryone's schedules are
different. But yes, we, that isour monthly thing. We get
together. We took a break for awhile because he was having a
rough time being able to, bekind to his mom in public. So
(20:03):
kind of had a little time outperiod.
But yes, we are back at ittonight. And before we even
order dinner, he's going to beasking where we're going next
month and calling me on thefifteenth to remind me.
Doug (20:13):
So Kelly, like, one of the things I think about, I'm an
extrovert. I love to be outthere. I love to be hanging out
with people, talking,encouraging them. And, like an
airplane, when the oxygen masksdrop, you gotta put it on
yourself before you put it onsomebody else.
Kelly (20:30):
Yeah.
Doug (20:31):
How does the encourager get encouraged?
Kelly (20:34):
Well, there's, there's that. My mom got me a sign that
says stop her before she saysyes again, or something like
that. And I have learned, Ithink, since I went through the
breast cancer, talking to mysister, Kathy, and different
(20:54):
friends that, you know, I haveto take care of myself. And I
think when I went through thecancer and had gained weight and
everything, I was very down onmyself. And I said, I think over
the years when, like, when myson was going through a phase of
not being very kind to his mom,I thought, well, you know what,
I'm going to help other people,because that makes me feel good
(21:17):
inside.
And they enjoy being around me.But then I got to the point, I'm
like, I'm doing it for so manypeople that it wears me down. So
I am now involved in a programat Carmel Wellness for the
teachers where they havecounselors, dietitians, personal
(21:37):
trainers, exercise classes. Sothis year is the year to get
healthy and be around so thatwhen I am with my grandkids, I
can, you know, get up off theground and not have them making
fun of the sounds I make as I'mtrying to move.
Doug (21:55):
That's great. So you're making a big investment in
yourself this year. Sounds
Kelly (21:59):
That's that's my goal.
Doug (22:01):
Yeah. Yeah. Man, Keith, if I had the title this podcast, if
I was Caleb, our podcastproducer, I think I'd highlight
I'm going to make friends. Ijust I really appreciate that,
Kelly, how you're in the waitingroom thinking, what could I do
here to be a light to otherpeople or to open your
(22:23):
worldview. And it's all aboutrelationships.
And so just to be able to make afriend is pretty impressive.
Kelly (22:32):
Yeah. I will definitely be one of the older ladies
that's in a nursing home, not insomeone's basement or living
alone. I'm I'm all about beingaround other people to the point
that, when you have teammateswho are are not like that, I
just I'm like, hey, guys, youknow, we don't eat together
(22:52):
because during COVID, everybodycloses their doors. But I you
were talking about what am Idoing for myself? I take that
twenty five minutes or so tolisten to soft, smooth jazz and
have my quiet time, because Idon't normally have that quiet
time.
So I know that that is somethingI need to work on, and getting
rest and eating properly. So, myteammates have helped me
(23:14):
understand that. But yeah, I'mall about meeting people.
Keith (23:22):
Well, you've been real generous with your time, Kelly.
Is there any parting words you'dwant to tell our friends that
they were thinking aboutexpanding their world with
volunteering or anything?
Kelly (23:32):
Yeah, I would just say, find something you're passionate
about. I when I retire, I wantto work with young adults with
disabilities. And, you know, Ithink just going out and finding
an area where you feel like youcan help others out, whether
it's, you know, doing missiontrips. You know, I know, like my
(23:53):
husband has said, not everybodywants to travel around the world
and go out of the country. Butjust in your backyard, you know,
making connections and, and, youknow, doing food drives, helping
at gleaners, helping, you know,any way you can just to help
other people out.
And and that's a great way toexpand your world and and kind
(24:14):
of get out of our own, You know,it's not about me, it's about
helping others. And that's whatwe're supposed to do.
Doug (24:21):
Be sweet.
Keith (24:22):
Yeah, thanks. Before we part, you want to show off your
friend that you're hanging outwith there to our friends?
Kelly (24:27):
Come here. Hold on. Let me get her. Come here. Oh, she
thinks for playing a game.
Alright. Alright.
Doug (24:40):
This is Harper the dog. Right?
Kelly (24:43):
Rose. You say hi. She's like, where's the sound coming
from? She's a licker. That's theone thing.
Like, we've never had a dogthat's a licker, but my
goodness. We know that's the wayyou show your love, but there's
other ways You can just lay
Keith (25:01):
in the
Doug (25:01):
trash. There are other ways. Volunteer.
Kelly (25:04):
Don't take care.
Keith (25:05):
Kelly, thanks for hanging out with us. You have a great
afternoon.
Kelly (25:08):
Thank you so much. You guys too. Take care.
Doug (25:11):
Bye bye. See you.
Kelly (25:12):
Bye.
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