SURPRISE, AZ — This is a story of neighbors helping neighbors in one Surprise community -- in fact, people felt so strongly about this story, I started getting phone calls!
Kay Rother called me a few weeks back, telling me about an amazing neighbor she has in the Sunflower Resort Community.
"We're a very close-knit community, and that's what I like about it," Kay told me on a chilly December morning.
In fact, Kay told me she liked it so much, there's no place she would rather be than her neighborhood. She told me all about the amenities --the dancing, the pickleball, the sense of community she felt --but there was one person who seemed to make all the difference for Kay and so many others: Kelly Mingus.
"She's a bundle of energy!" Kay described to me.
That soon became evident to me as well -- Kelly is not only a cookie baker, a grocery delivery woman, and a carpool queen. She's so much more to her neighbors, doing things big and small, all for a simple smile and a "thank you."
"She always puts others before herself."
Even when people need rides to doctor's appointments, neighbors tell me Kelly is there for them - but on paper, Kelly may seem like the one who needs a helping hand.
Kelly explained to me she's been living with liver disease and may eventually need a transplant. In the meantime, she takes more than a dozen medications and supplements to keep her levels in check, often fighting through the swollen feet and tiredness she feels, all to do a good deed.
"It keeps me going," Kelly told me. "I'm happy to see the smiles on people's faces when they do something. It makes me feel good inside. It's a self-healing thing for me."