s e o r e HL eroes HL Among Us
s U g n o m A
Pat Richardson
Five individuals working to make a positive impact in our community Photography by J ohn Mi chae l Sim ps on
daughter’s spirit alive. She started the Monet Richardson Community very time Pat Richardson Foundation, making it her mission fills a backpack with school to supply hundreds of backpacks to supplies for a student, she underprivileged families in the area. turns her grief into another The nonprofit also raises funds for form of love in memory of her late a financial literacy workshop and daughter, Kristian “Krissy” Monet three different academic scholarships Richardson. Krissy was 23 when for students involved with Chapel she died on May 16, 2021, in a crash Hill-Carrboro City Schools’s AVID on her way back from a girls trip in program, ECU’s School of Social Atlanta. Though she was so young, Workand Orange Grove Missionary Krissy made a lasting impact on the Baptist Church. Running with the community through her years of Angels 5K, the signature fundraising Help Pat keep Krissy’s generous spirit alive by signing up volunteer work as a camp counselor event, is held each March at East for next year’s Running with the Angels 5K on March 23. and tutor at the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chapel Hill High School where YMCA and as a mentor for SKJAJA. Krissy was a co-captain of the girls In 2018, Krissy was volunteering varsity basketball team. at the Y during her summer break while pursuing a bachelor’s degree “I always knew she was special,” Pat says. “Krissy was a light, an in social work at East Carolina University. She noticed several kids energy. She always brought a presence that people gravitated toward. did not have pencils, notebooks or a school bag. With the Y’s support, I never had to micromanage her to push her forward. There were Krissy launched a project to solicit donations to fill about 170 times where she would get almost larger than life. She was very backpacks with supplies for K-5 students at four elementary schools. independent, very self-aware, very confident, very engaging. That Shortly after Krissy’s death in 2021, Pat was determined to keep her was her the majority of the time.” – By Anna-Rhesa Versola
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chapelhillmagazine.com
November/December 2023