8/28/20 - Though they never met, Anne Cox Chambers and Anne Chambliss share an important connection. It's not just their first name, it’s a legacy of community service being carried on by our first Anne Cox Chambers Award winner: Christine Romero.
See, Christine credits her late grandmother, Anne Chambliss, with inspiring her to help others and teaching her to sew – skills she has put to good use since the outbreak of COVID-19 to provide more than 3,200 cloth face masks for people in her Texas community and beyond. Those actions garnered Christine the first Anne Cox Chambers award, which honors Cox employees who are making an impact in the community through volunteerism and community service.
Mrs. Chambers, daughter of our founder Governor James M. Cox and a Cox Enterprises board member, spent most of her life as a community leader, passionate supporter of the arts, champion of animal welfare and generous philanthropist. She died at age 100 earlier this year.
Cox Enterprises President and CEO Alex Taylor — who is Mrs. Chambers’ grandson — presented Christine with the award on Aug. 24 in a special video chat. He said she exemplifies the humble spirit of his late grandmother.
Sewing Masks, and Sowing Goodwill
Christine started working at Manheim Express Houston about a year ago as a client solutions specialist. Her job is to visit area dealerships to take photographs and document the condition of vehicles going up for auction.
Soon after the pandemic began, she realized a lot of older people in her neighborhood might need help. In a Facebook forum, she offered to sew masks for anyone who needed them.
The rest, as they say, is history. The post was quickly picked up and shared by neighbors, friends and others and requests for masks began flooding in. In the past few months, Christine has provided masks to nursing homes, local hospitals, police departments, schools and countless other individuals and organizations.
And she’s even enlisted a little helper — her 10-year-old daughter, Paige (pictured at right).
Paying it Forward
In recognition of the winner of the Anne Cox Chambers Award, the James M. Cox Foundation will make a $10,000 grant to the nonprofit organization of the winner’s choice.
Christine said she was speechless and overcome with emotion when she first learned that she was receiving the award.
“There are not enough words,” Christine said. “I’ve been with different companies where you just feel like you’re a number. This company, they just continuously shock me with their empathy for people, especially the people that work for them. I’ve never worked for a company like this before.”
Christine said she has chosen to give the grant money to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston – a place that’s special to her because her grandmother (who passed away in 2010 from Alzheimer’s) volunteered her time there and loved children.
Story originally appeared on CoxEnterprises.com
