SPARTANBURG, SC (WSPA ) – Carolina’s Family and our parent company Nexstar are working together to recognize remarkable women in our community.
Out of over 200 local nominees, four finalists were selected and we will be sharing their stories over the next several weeks.
Leading off our nominees is 81-year-old Janice Myers.
Myers was nominated by her friend Cynthia Larimore after she saw the Remarkable Women contest on WSPA.
“I thought immediately of Janice because Janice is a survivor and because she’s been through so much and she’s really sensitive to people’s needs,” Larimore said.
Myers works out of her tiny apartment, filled with yarn and fabric donated by people who want to help her with her mission of giving. She makes hats, vests and quilts to the homeless, hungry or anyone who needs a helping hand.
She credits her caring personality and work ethic to her post-Depression upbringing.
“When I was about seven, I sent all my dolls and the clothes I had to a girl in Germany after the second World War. I was giving,” Myer said. “My bedroom at that time was filled with all the clothes that my mother was giving away. Every month my mother would send the biggest size box there was to Germany after the second World War.”
Decades later, Myers is still following in her mother’s footsteps.
In fact, she has gotten so good at filling people’s needs that she inspired the creation of a Facebook group page called Buy Nothing Spartanburg where people can simply ask for what they need.
Myers said she doesn’t seek recognition, but it does humble her.
“When I had my 81st birthday, I asked the man upstairs when the light was going to go out and the next day I had 80 barrels of yarn and four boxes of fabric came at my door. So I said ‘Hey, I got the idea!'” Myers said.
She said it’s hard to keep track of all the people she has helped, but she has a network of about 20 people that go out and help hundreds of others, so needless to say her reach is quite broad.
