Community Tadbitz: Meet Susan Lakeman

“There’s two kinds of people in this world when you boil it all down. You got your talkers and you got your doers. Most people are just talkers, all they do is talk. But when it is all said and done, it’s the doers that change this world. And when they do that, they change us, and that’s why we never forget them.“ This quote from the movie, “The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day” describes Susan Lakeman perfectly. Susan is a doer.

Since the Community Lunch Box program’s inception, Susan has been there, working diligently. She now sits on the board of directors. “It’s amazing what the CLB has accomplished throughout the years,” she said. “It’s the best program out there to join and volunteer. It started in the schools and has now become so much more.”

When the program started started, Susan asked how could she help and since then has been one of CLB’s go-to people ever since. Like any good presentation, hours of work go into making it presentable. Susan helps with BBQs and works behind the scenes to ensure everything runs smoothly.

The biggest challenge, Susan says, is watching Tara struggle with the inevitable difficulties that go with running a community program.” I wish people knew that The CLB’s purpose is to help the community-we are helping those that cannot help themselves and I want to dispel this misconception that we are singling out children that can’t afford it or feeding kids that don’t need it. We are here to help all the kids in our community.”

Susan expects the Community Lunch Box program to continue to grow and hopes that their recycling program is up and running soon. It will all be done in one centralized location.

A mother of three, Susan describes herself as easy going and friendly and “loads of fun.” I asked her to elaborate on that and Susan paused, half-smiling and said “I love to drink wine with friends. Can you make that sound good?” she giggled. She enjoys cooking and baking and thinks of herself as a good cook adding, “My kids don’t complain anyway.” Susan is a passionate animal lover. Her dog Pipa is very special to her heart.