Today we’d like to introduce you to Dawn Witherspoon.
Dawn, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was born and raised in beautiful South Florida. After graduating from college in 2005 I became a Realtor and joined The Witherspoon Group. I met my husband, Paul, was married a year later, and had our beautiful daughter Allison. My life was complete! I had an amazing life coaching Allison’s soccer, volunteering on the board at her school’s PTA, and being the team mom/room mom then in 2017 our life changed forever.
My husband Paul was killed in the line of duty by a drunk driver. Paul was a critical care flight medic that served as a field training officer and as a Paramedic instructor. On the first anniversary of Paul’s death, I knew it would be an awful day for me so I decided to do random acts of kindness in Paul’s honor, I thought if I could make others happy then maybe one day I could be happy too.
Random acts of kindness caught on and went all over the world. People were doing amazing acts of kindness in honor of the greatest guy I knew. The next year we had to go a little bit bigger and my friend Anthony of Antonio’s Restaurant in Davie was more than happy to help. I wanted to feed homeless people at the beach but he told me I could go to jail for that and asked why I wasn’t honoring first responders and EMS like my husband.
Our 1st annual Heroes Dinner was born from that conversation. Our Dinner went from very humble beginnings to now hosting over 325 first responders at the beautiful Bonaventure Town Center Club. We became a not-for-profit just after the first dinner and have really grown. At our Heroes Dinner we award scholarships for EMT, Paramedic, and Fire Academy. We have awarded 8 scholarships to date and plan on awarding 7 at this year’s dinner totaling 15 scholarships for EMTs, Paramedics, or Fire Academy in just three years!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Life is all about perspective. If you dwell on the obstacle and challenges you won’t get ahead. There will always be obstacles and challenges, challenges provide opportunities to grow!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
The For Paul Foundation’s mission is to support, honor, and help provide education for first responders, their families, and families that have lost a loved one in the line of duty. We support first responders by working on legislation that will enrich their lives, assisting in disasters, and supporting our line of duty-families. We support families in many ways including our annual Heroes for the Holidays program provides families that have lost a loved one in the line of duty with holiday dinner, help decorating, and gifts for the children.
We honor first responders by engaging the community to appreciate our first responders with a unique thank you project students can participate in, We also honor first responders by putting together celebrations of life for first responders that do not come from large departments with unlimited resources. We provide education to first responders by sponsoring training and awarding scholarships to future first responders.
After Paul’s death, I could not simply return to the life I once had, I was changed and the everyday things I once loved seemed trivial. After learning of a few of Paul’s co-worker’s suicides and not being able to find adequate mental health for my daughter and myself I went back to school to obtain my Masters in Mental Health from Carlos Albizu University in Doral.
Since graduating in 2022 I have become a licensed intern and seen many patients suffering from PTSD, Grief, and Loss. Through the foundation, I have started a free monthly support group for families that have lost a loved one in the line of duty. It has sure been a wild ride and I can’t wait for the next step in our mission,
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theforpaulfoundation.org
- Instagram: @forpaulfoundation
- Facebook: https://222.facebook.com/theforpaulfoundation
- Youtube: @theforpaulfoundation
