Had a wonderful opportunity to go to Operation Hope’s pantry this week with my mother.  It was the first time I was able to have my mother join me on my visit there and I was so delighted to see how much interest she took in the program.

The pantry offers food to individuals who are in true need.  We spent almost an hour talking with Liz Bennett and Paula Morthanos about how the program works and how needed it is in our community.  Operation Hope has been serving homeless and those in need for 25 years.  It is one of the recipients from the Bigelow Tea Community Challenge.

After we left, it was really heartwarming to hear my mother talk about the visit and how she wanted to see what else my family and I can do to support all their good work.  It was a special hour!

Cindi Bigelow

Had the most wonderful experience with my son this weekend.  I entered the 7th annual Connecticut Challenge, a bike tour to raise money for cancer survivors.  They offer numerous distances, my son and I chose 25 miles (they also have 50, 75 and 100 mile courses!).

I wasn’t sure what to expect but when we arrived at around 7:15 am on Saturday, we saw over a 1000 bicycles and riders getting ready to attack their perspective course.  They put us each in “corrals” by mileage-obviously we were in the 25 mile corral.  Then one of the co-founders of the event started to talk to us about why we were there….to empower cancer survivors.

Cindi Bigelow with son David Ride in the Connecticut Challenge

The Connecticut Challenge opening had the 66 cancer survivors that were riding in the race walk down the center corral-that is when it hit me how powerful of an event this was.  As they passed me one by one, I  read the signs on their back-Survivor, cancer free for 19 months and counting… Survivor, three times….Survivor, 20 years.

As each one moved down the corral I shook my head.  My eyes teared up as I watched their families and friends cheer them on.  When they reached the end of their march, a monarch butterfly was released for each one of the survivors.   Up into the sky they flew and then turned and headed over all of the cyclist heads.  It was breathtaking.  By the time I got on my bike to start the 25 miles with my son and left the corral to hit the streets, I had been transformed from a mother looking to have a fun experience with her son to someone just in awe of being part of this outstanding event.

The two of us enjoyed every single moment of the ride and even more, we were so thrilled to be able to support this beautiful cause and those 66 hero’s cycling all around us.

On June 11, a dozen Bigelow employees (including a couple of spouses and a consultant!) joined together with Habitat for Humanity of Coastal Fairfield County to help with some projects. One was a lovely, nearly completed house in Bridgeport. Workers painted, insulated the basement, cleared the yard of debris and completed a front porch.

In the afternoon the group returned to the warehouse to construct door panels. Hammers were busily tapping away as participants learned new skills, laughed a lot and enjoyed the camaraderie all while working together for a very worthwhile cause – building brand new homes for deserving families.

Cindi Bigelow

What a perfect afternoon.  I had to leave the office yesterday around 11:30 am and I have to be honest I was grumbling the whole way, I am too busy, I have so much to get done, I really need some solid hours at my desk. And as usual, I left anyway to go to the annual Norma F. Pfriem Breast Care Center luncheon.  This year the keynote speaker was going to be Vanessa Williams, I had admired some of her work, so I thought the afternoon most likely would turn out alright.  The other reason I had to go was one of my best friends is the director of the center and I knew she had put in a gazillion hours to make this afternoon special.  So up I got, in my car and to the event I went (along with a team of us from Bigelow).

Well when I got there, I saw so many wonderful people that I knew in the community.  And as I should have expected, each person was nicer than the next-big hugs, lots of smiles and kisses…Okay I needed to go.  Then we sat down, and my dear friend, Donna Twist the director, got up and gave away two Rose of Hope awards to some pretty special ladies that have worked tirelessly for the center.  The awards were extremely well deserved and the words they each shared when they received their plaque were so beautifully touching.  Yeah, this is good. Then up to the podium came a young woman named Natasha Jones.  She is a breast care survivor (still in treatment), single mother of four, 35 years old, with no safety net in the world to help her with her children if anything was ever to happen to her.  Her words stopped me cold….it wasn’t a disease that she would ever get, it wasn’t something she ever even thought twice about and all of a sudden she is diagnosed with stage 2 cancer and is fighting for her life.  She spoke for about 20 minutes and you could hear a pin drop in the audience of almost 500 people.  Each statement she made was more riveting than the last about her journey, her outstanding care she received at the center and her unwavering will to survive.  I could not stop the tears streaming down my face.  When she finished I could not jump to my feet fast enough.  500 of us were giving her the ovation of her life.  Yes, this is a wonderful cause. Then finally Vanessa was at the microphone.  Of course she was as beautiful as ever but it was what she said that was really what made her shine in my eyes.  First she acknowledged Natasha and her fight against breast cancer with such a caring and compassionate tone.  I quickly realized this was not a woman who was going to just get up and just give her prepared speech and move on.  She was sincere, passionate about this disease that stole her 42 year cousin (who was like a sister to her) and honest.  She shared stories of her life, her love of her children, how the loss of her cousin affected her and how invaluable a center like the Norma Pfriem truly is to our community.  It wasn’t a canned speech, it was written with true purpose and heart.  Once again the tears started.  When she was done, all 500 of us were back on our feet applauding this truly beautiful speech that we watched unfold.

Now I am back in my office, looking at all the numbers, preparing for upcoming meetings and handling phone calls.  I am still too busy, I still have too much to get done, and I still need more hours than I have in a day at my desk, but it doesn’t matter.  Thank you Donna, thank you Vanessa and thank you Natasha….you put me back in balance, you made my day and I realize how lucky I am that I was even given the chance to attend this wonderful lunch.  It was the perfect afternoon….

Cindi Bigelow

I just love our employees, in the picture is a young man, John Fonseca who just had his second baby.  Our employees put on  baby shower for him…well if you could have seen this wonderful affair.  The room holding the little party was packed, baby gifts galore, and the affection from the fellow employees toward John was so heartwarming.

John is such a great guy, quiet, intelligent, no nonsense, doesn’t ask for any attention but just likes to do his job and do it exceptionally well.  Well for a guy who doesn’t like a lot of attention, forget about it!  He had 40 people showering him with gifts and love.

It was a beautiful event for a beautiful reason….John’s newest arrival, Mason Avery Fonseca!

Cindi Bigelow

Spent the day at Habitat for Humanity headquarters – wow what a team I have! We just kicked butt together.  We built all the interior walls of a new home  (yes 36 of them) from 8 till 1 – way surpassing their expectations of what we could have gotten done.  Then we started on the exterior walls for another home and they ran out of wood!

This says tons about my team-they just do! They work hard, don’t complain, and want to make a difference in this world.

What a great day….I cannot lie I left my team early (around 2) to watch my son’s tennis tournament, but I was only a small piece of this puzzle anyway.  Love these people…hard workers, no frills, just doing what has to be done! Super job team, delighted to be a part of it!  AND PS Habitat for Humanity is the most beautiful organization.  The good work being done is immeasurable!

Cindi Bigelow

Friday was a really special day as I spent the morning representing Bigelow Tea as a sponsor of the Imus Radiothon supporting The Imus Ranch, the Tomorrow’s Children Fund and the CJ Foundation for SIDS. It was so special to realize this was our 14th year supporting this wonderful cause and seeing so many old friends who work tirelessly not only to make the Radiothon a success but the work done afterwards as well.

Looking back however I still can’t get over that Friday was Charles McCord’s last day on the Imus in the Morning Show. Charles will be retiring to Arkansas after a wonderful 40 year association with Don Imus. It was an honor to wish Charles continued success in the new chapter in his life and we wish him all the best. We consider him a true friend to our family.

Enjoy your next chapter Charles…. I know it will be magnificent !!!! Just like you deserve.

Cindi Bigelow

I had a wonderful visit with ABC Entertainment Producer Sheila Marikar at Gazala’s restaurant 380 Columbus Ave in New York City.  We chatted about how to make the perfect cup of tea and what tea is the best tea for the upcoming royal wedding.  Both Sheila and I were drinking Earl Grey tea which is also one of Kate Middleton’s favorite teas.

I ended the great visit with trying two of Gazala’s signature desserts, Osh-Al-Saria which is a delectable creamy yogurt pudding prepared with oranges and rosewater and Date Cookies, semolina dough stuffed with chopped dates and walnuts. Earl Grey is not only a perfect tea for the royal wedding but it is a perfect accompaniment to these incredible desserts.

Good luck to the royal couple!

Cindi Bigelow

This past week I had the pleasure of having three Bigelow Foundation scholarship recipients come to Bigelow Tea for a visit.  This year the foundation was able to offer 8 students (2 per class year) at Bridgeport University scholarship money to help them pay for their college tuition.

In the picture are three of the students that came for the visit, Samantha Rodrigues, Nicole Catalan and Colin Capaci.  What terrific young people!

My father and mother wrote a personal note to each student sharing their thoughts on the importance of education.  It was a real pleasure meeting these wonderful Co-eds. So glad we can help them in any way to help them achieve their college education.

Cindi Bigelow

I’m so thankful for the scholarship from the Bigelow Family because I’ve worked so hard in school and this scholarship allowed me to finish this semester and be the first college graduate in my family.

-Samantha Rodrigues

I cannot thank you enough for awarding me your scholarship. Receiving this scholarship means that I can start paying my student loans off and look forward to a brighter future. I am very grateful!

-Nicole Catalan

Bigelow Tea, besides being what I love to drink in the morning, helped me get through college; I am so moved by their generosity.

-Colin Capaci

I have to share the most amazing speech I heard this Sunday.  Now I have to tread lightly here as it was a sermon at my church this weekend.  But I have to say, to me this is not a religious issue, it is a “be the best person you can be”  speech. That is why I want to share it with as many people as I can (please click on the audio player below my name to listen to the speech).   It is so moving, so motivational, and in my opinion, something everyone should aspire to work toward.  The theme?  Being good and kind to people that, well frankly, it is hard to be good and kind to.  Now, I know that the presenter, Pastor Alida Ward, knows that achieving perfection in this area is darn near impossible.  But that doesn’t mean we don’t try hard every day.

As she states, it is kind of easy to be nice and helpful to those that are nice and helpful to you.  Where it gets difficult is to keep that same attitude when you are dealing with “less than charitable” behavior.  Believe me, I do not have this down pat, but anyone who knows me, knows that that approach is near and dear to my heart.

And this is not something that I think applies to just my personal life, it applies to our business life as well.  I often have to deal with some pretty “one sided” individuals in my business circle and it is so important to stay open and kind in those settings.  Why? Well maybe it will turn them around maybe it won’t but you can at least hold your head high that you treated them with the utmost of respect.  So I am not sure if you want to take the time to listen to this Sermon by clicking on the player, but I think if you do, it will be very profound.  It really makes you think…and makes you stop and take pause how you treat everyone around you.

I will remember that speech for a very long time, to be honest, I hope I remember it forever.

Cindi Bigelow

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