Name: Jeanne Helton
Age: 50 (and proud of every year!)
Family: Mom, Irene Helton. Brother, Steve Helton. Sister-in-law, Wendy Helton. Niece, Sarah Helton, and lots of cousins and aunts and uncles.
Pets: Countless squirrels and birds that occupy well-stocked feeders and ... raccoons that come at night ... from somewhere. Feed them Oreos and doughnuts to keep them out of my squirrel feeders but that doesn’t always work!
Education: University of Florida, B.A. in Health Science, and University of Florida, J.D.
Admitted to the Bar: 1985
Employed by: Smith, Hulsey & Busey
Field of practice: Health care business regulatory and transactional matters, and corporate/business law.
Professional Organizations: The Florida Bar, The American Bar Association, The Jacksonville Bar Association, American Health Lawyers Association, Florida Academy of Health Lawyers, Christian Legal Society
Community Involvement: Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of North Florida Inc. (Advisory Board); Riverwoods Owners Association (Director); Guardian Advocate, 10-plus years for one individual; ABA Breast Cancer Task Force; some volunteer work for Ronald McDonald House, and a longtime church nursery volunteer.
How did you get involved?I agreed to come to a meeting and learn more about the Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies group 10 years ago and, through thick and thin, still find this group’s purpose and commitment compelling. I knew immediately that the mission, to improve the health and safety of both mothers and babies through public and private partnerships, was critically important. Every child deserves to be born healthy and to be raised in a safe and nurturing environment. Education and directing resources is key. Neglect and abuse (intentional and unintentional) of mothers and children can be eliminated, but we need both volunteers and donations!
How can someone else get involved? Pick up the phone and call. Keep your eyes open for a “need” in the community and then commit to meet it and don’t give up at the first sign of resistance. It took my New York Yankees 20 seasons to win our first World Series title and we now hold the record for wins. Persistence. Share your passion or concern with friends, co-workers and family and you will find others willing to help. Every person has needed help at one time or another and, if asked for assistance, and given a task, most are willing to give back. Collaboration gets the task done in half the time and gives others a sense of satisfaction in helping someone else.
What have you learned/achieved through the experience? No amount of time or funds is too little to contribute. If you can give an hour a month, that is 60 minutes some organization now has that they didn’t have yesterday. Small increments of productive time can yield needed results for charitable organizations. Every dollar donated is a dollar needed. Best of all, whatever you give in terms of time and resources always seems to come back to you, multiplied by 10.
What was the last book you read or are reading? I start out each day with select passages from the Bible, to get fortified for what tasks I have at hand that day. I just finished Max Lucado’s “Facing Your Giants” for the second time. Great book. I am a third of the way finished with “The Snowball, Warren Buffett and the Business of Life” by Alice Schroeder. So far, a fascinating read.