In 1996, just short of law school graduation, a young East Texas man lost his mother to cancer. His mother had worked with students with special needs. It was a true joy of her life to be involved with these children.
Out of a mixture of grief, fond memories, and his love for her, the young man, now a lawyer, teamed up with one of his sisters, a special education teacher, to give back to those children that had made his mother so happy. He provided funds so his sister’s special needs students could shop for Christmas gifts. It was done quietly, without fanfare, for many years. Sometimes, his best friend would join him on these trips to Jacksonville, Texas.
The Christmas trips soon grew to include more than his sister’s students. By 2005, five school district’s special needs students shared in the generosity of this up and coming lawyer, including the school where his mother worked. It was also the year that his best friend’s life was tragically ended in an auto accident. In 2006, the lawyer, now joined with his wife, decided to create a charity to memorialize his mother and his dear friend. This charity’s sole mission is providing children with special needs opportunities to be successful.
This year marks the charity’s ten-year anniversary of faithfully serving each year over 2,000 children with special needs and their families, fulfilling the mission lived by its namesakes, envisioned by its founders, and accomplished due to the love and support of our dear friends.
Yes, the lawyer is Steve Mostyn and the charity is the Glenda Jean Mostyn & Joe E Moreno Educational Foundation.
When asked why he believes in charitable giving in a recently, Steve Mostyn remembered a refrigerator magnet from his youth that shared the Starfish Story:
“An old man walked up a shore littered with thousands of starfish, beached and dying after a storm. A young man was picking them up and flinging them back into the ocean. “Why do you bother?” the old man scoffed. “You’re not saving enough to make a difference.” The young man picked up another starfish and sent it spinning back to the water. “Made a difference to that one,” he replied.
Steve and Amber Mostyn have been making a difference in many people’s lives for many years. They give willingly and they give often. Not all the give is put out there for the world to see. If they can make a difference in just one person’s life – to them, they have made a difference.