At Daniel Stark, we get to meet a lot of remarkable people. Parents doing everything they can to hold their families together after a life changing injury. Children who suffer through hours of physical therapy every day with a smile on their face. The inspirational stories we see in our clients are endless. We knew that there had to be more incredible stories out there, so we went looking for them.
In 2019, we started the Be Remarkable campaign. By partnering with local news stations, we’re able to share stories of people doing remarkable things in our communities. One of the most inspiring stories we’ve uncovered started in Axtell, Texas, with Amanda Ruble.
Amanda takes action.
Like so many others, Amanda lost her job during the COVID-19 outbreak. Rather than sit around waiting for things to get better, she took matters into her own hands. Amanda started her own business out of her home to make ends meet. That alone is impressive, but it’s not what landed Amanda on our radar.
In Axtell, the volunteer fire department was facing a crisis. Their extrication tools – used to rescue people who are trapped in a vehicle after a crash – were malfunctioning. As a result, the department was no longer being dispatched to wrecks in the area. This meant that when there was a crash in Axtell, they had to wait on fire departments from other towns to respond.
When Amanda learned about this, she knew she had to do something. She partnered with the fire department to start a weekly farmer’s market to fundraise for the new tools.
Sherri Ruble, Amanda’s mother, knew her daughter’s actions were remarkable. She nominated Amanda for our Be Remarkable award, and we got to meet Amanda in October of 2020. Our CEO, Danny Daniel, was blown away by her story.
Not only was Amanda stepping out of her comfort zone to help her family, but she had started an entire series of fundraising events to protect her town. She was willing to do whatever it took to make sure that her local fire fighters had the tools they needed to keep her community safe.
Axtell, Texas, is safer because of Amanda.
Because of Amanda, the Leroy-Axtell Volunteer Fire Department was able to purchase the new rescue tools they needed to respond to car wrecks. The roads in Axtell, Texas, are safer because of Amanda, but her story has inspired much more.
After working with Amanda to help fire fighters in Axtell, Texas, we’ve decided to create a new fundraising campaign to help volunteer fire departments all over Texas. We’re currently fundraising for six Texas volunteer fire departments that need new equipment to keep their communities safe – all because of how Amanda’s story inspired us.
Let’s be more like Amanda. When we see something that needs fixing, let’s roll up our sleeves and fix it. You never know how big of an impact it might make.
