FOCUS North America in Pittsburgh

Troy Polamalu with sons, Paisios and Ephraim

FOCUS North America announced its plan to begin extending its program into the Pittsburgh area. Being born and raised in Northeast Ohio, cities like Cleveland and Pittsburgh felt like part of my hometown growing up, so I am was very happy to learn of FOCUS' plan to get even more involved there.

Theodora Polamalu, a board member for the North America division, spoke at a recent fundraiser held in Pittsburgh. (The following excerpt was taken from the Post Gazette. To read the article in its entirety, follow this link.)

Mrs. Polamalu spoke at the dinner on seeing the image of God in the poor.

"We are all images of the very God we serve," she said. "It is the imperative of this organization to restore the dignity that belongs to each man as bestowed by God."

She spoke of people who lost everything in the recession and of veterans who returned from war "to homelessness and despair."

"You might ask, 'Where is God in their lives?' The better question is 'Where is God in our lives?' " she said, urging listeners to respond in the name of Jesus.

The Polamalu family made the dinner even more special by donating items to be raffled off during a silent auction, including signed POLAMALU jerseys and even raffling off tickets for attendees to have dessert with them at the end of the dinner. They earned over $12000 for dessert alone!

One person in attendance stated, "The first thing Troy did when he arrived was went into the kitchen and thanked everyone for their hard work. It really set the tone for the night and got them excited."

Theodora reminded guests that nearly one-third of Pittsburgh's kids living below the poverty line and over 1400 homeless living in the city, the work of reconciling the needs of others is great. I am always in awe of their family's love and humility. Troy obviously being the one most often mentioned in the news but Theodora takes no backseat when it comes to sharing their family's blessings whenever she can. Like the saying goes, "Behind every successful man is a woman", right? :) Well, I guess that's not always the case but it certainly is in this one and I think Troy would agree.

Theodora also said that she and Troy hoped that "whether the name is Polamalu or Smith, we will all share the responsibility of lifting the great name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ whose name is above all names." Amen.

i love that Ephraim is missing his shoe in this pic...guess it's the mommy in me. :)

To learn more about FOCUS and how you can help, check out their official website here.