| The reason the Feature of the Week forum was created was to honor people who have a positive influence on this community.
To qualify the person has to be an active member
and one who contributes to the positive atmosphere here AdlandPro. Here are the criteria for nominating a member for the Feature of the Week
(also referred to as the Person of the Week, POTW).
This criterion can be seen at the site below:
Criterion
How Do I Get Selected as Person of the Week?
To be chosen as Person of the week you:
• Are highly visible on the community
• Are always seen as respectful, professional, and helpful.
• Must be nominated for the program by another member
of the Community and voted on by other members.
• Must have a real photo of themselves on their profile.
This week we're honoring William Vanderbilt.
BillDaddy really involved in the community.
Now, at the risk of being risky, rather than talk about
myself here, I would like to talk about some other people
near and dear to my heart. As most of you know, my primary
purpose here in AdlandPro is my advocacy work. I try to
bring attention to segments of our society that are less
fortunate than most of us. Now, if I may, I would like to
briefly describe to you what it is like to be a member of
one of these less fortunate groups of people.
First, I would like to talk a little about children with
autism. I believe that autism is perhaps one of the most
preventable yet least studied and understood disorders of
our time. Currently, 1 of every 150 children born in The
U.S are diagnosed with autism. In some places, such as New
Jersey, this rate is as high as 1 in 60 in some areas.
There is a lot that we can do as individuals to help
children with autism but as a group, there is no limit to
what we could accomplish. If you would like to learn more
about autism, I welcome you to my autism forum at the
following link. So far there have been 5,572 visits to this
forum. I would love to see a lot more.
http://community.adlandpro.com/forums/thread/171769.aspx
Next, I would like to talk about perhaps the most
neglected segment of our society. This would be those with
a mental illness. I myself have suffered with severe
depression for most of my life. That is until I finally
found the right people, in the right place and began a
successful treatment program. I am now 5 years out of
treatment other than a single medication. I am doing very
well and have no fear of returning to those dark times that
robbed me of much of the joy in my life. The sad thing
about mental illness is that it is perhaps the most
treatable of all illnesses yet so many do not receive the
treatment that could change their lives. Stigma, insurance
company policy and fear are three main reasons that people
do not get the treatment they need. In this country there
are more people with a mental illness behind bars than
there are in treatment. Just think what we could do as a
united group to bring about the nessesary changes in our
mental health system. I welcome you all to visit my mental
health forums at
http://community.adlandpro.com/forums/8212/5/ShowForum.aspx
Now, what about our Veterans and Active Service Members.
This is a topic that makes everyone uncomfortable. How do
you Thank someone who has sacrificed their life to protect
ours. How do you reward someone for earning the freedom and
safety that we enjoy every day,,,,,when they are no longer
with us. Well, we can help the families of our fallen
heroes financially and spiritually to overcome the sense of
loss in their lives. We can demand from our government that
all veterans be granted the promises that were made to them
prior to entering the service.
There are over 500,000
homeless veterans on the streets of America right now as we
speak. There are more on the way home from the middle east
as well. Yes, we can do something to help these victims of
society. Write to your congressional leaders and tell them
that there is no excuse for even one homeless veteran. I
have a forum here if you would like to learn more about how
these men and women live and die. There have been a mere
237 visits to this thread. Hardly enough to make a real
impact
http://community.adlandpro.com/forums/thread/900545.aspx
I have well over a hundred different threads that advocate
for one cause or another. Everything from politics to
poisons. Spirituality to superstition. I welcome you all to
come and visit my forums and see if there is a place in
your heart to offer help to those who really need it.
Now, one final topic.
Currently, we are an organization of over 70,000 people.
Can you imagine the impact that we could have on any chosen cause. If we were to unite for the common good of our
fellow man we could make a huge difference not only in our
own lives but in the whole world. We are from many
different races, countries and creeds. We, as a group have
an opportunity to reach around the globe and change lives
in every corner. Can you just imagine what we could
accomplish. Here are some of the things we could do
together as a united group of caring people.
70,000 x $1 could purchase a house in any of many
different cities to house homeless veterans. What if we
purchased one per year. Imagine the difference.
70,000 x $1 could buy several tons of food to feed those
who are hungry every day.
We could sponsor autism research. Cancer research. Help
families of fallen soldiers. Buy books for the illiterate.
Buy wheel chairs for the crippled. Medicine for the
mentally ill. Clothes for the poor children of the world.
We could lobby congress for change. Set up community action
centers. Animal shelters. Orphanages. Child locater
services. Days at Disneyland for handicapped children. The
list just goes on and on. Can you just imagine what we could
accomplish as a unified group of concerned citizens. Well,
if you can, then imagine
70,000 x $2 70,000 x $3 70,000 x $5 or $10 or $20 once a
year.
What is the limit to what we could accomplish together.
Does a limit even exist. I think not.
Surprisingly, I believe I will start a new forum. It will
be titled " Can You Imagine " Please watch for it. It just
might change someone's life forever. Maybe even yours.
May a smile follow you to sleep each night and be there
waiting,,,,,,,,when you awaken.
Sincerely,
Billdaddy |
BillDaddy is a very interesting and active member of our community.
He has made a lot of friends and is a favorite poster to many of us in the community; a warm personality is always a welcomed addition to a forum. Visit his Forums
Congratulations William Vanderbilt
on your POTW win! 
|
Greetings All
First, I have to thank AnnaMaria, Jim and Peter for all the
hard work they put into this forum . The three of you make
a great team and you are doing a wonderful job. Thank You.
Also, I would like to Thank all of my friends who have
supported me in my new career of being a POTW nominee.
Thank you all for your votes and your friendship
I would like to thank all of those who have participated in
this forum as well. It looks like there was a really good
turn out this week and that shows the community spirit
here. I wish all of the other nominees the best of luck
too. Don't give up. Sometimes it just takes a month or so.
LOL . Anyhow, Here we go
My name is Bill Vanderbilt and I have been around Adland
for quite a while.. I really don't have a whole lot to say
about my life other than that I have had some pretty crazy
things happen to me over the years.
I was born on April Fools day in 1953 in Youngstown, Ohio.
Originally, I had two brothers and two sisters and I am the
oldest. My parents were divorced when I was about 11 and by
age 12, Mom decided that going to live with my father for a
couple of weeks might teach me a lesson. I was one of those
kids that always managed to get into trouble and I was a
bit more than Mom could handle.
Well, 2 weeks later, Mom, her new husband to be and my
brothers and sisters all came to Dad's to get me. They were
headed for Kansas where Ed, our new step dad to be, had a
job waiting for him at Forte Riley. He was a redeye missile
technician. Well, I decided to teach Mom a lesson and I
refused to go with them. After some serious talking and a
lot of tears, they finally left, without me.
I never saw them again until I was 18 years old. My friend
John and I were heading for California from New Bethlehem Pa
and I found them just by chance in Junction City Kansas. I
had heard from somewhere that Mom and them lived there but
I wasn't sure. I ended up going to the post office in JC
and asking the postmaster if he could tell me if my family
lived around there. He thought long and hard about it but
then decided to go ahead and tell me where my family lived.
I guess there were some pretty strict rules about giving
out peoples addresses so the post master was a bit
concerned about doing this. I am very glad he did though.
Anyhow, We went to Mom's house and I went up and knocked on
the door. Mom came and opened the door just a crack and
asked if she could help me in some way. I said "yes, My
friend and I would like to get a cup of coffee and a bite
to eat. She gave me directions to the nearest diner and
closed the door. She didn't have a clue.
LOL So, I said to my friend John, " yep, that was Mom but
if I knock again it will probably scare the heck out of her
so we turned to leave. Just then, I heard the door open
again and Mom stood there looking at me and then she said "
Billy? "I said yea Mom, it's me.
Well, needless to say, it was quite a reunion. I ended up
staying there with them and graduated from Chapman High
School a few months later. It was my third school in three
states just that year so you can imagine how much I moved
around. After I graduated I moved beck east, got married
the next year to my last high school sweetheart and moved
to Texas to start college.
To try to shorten things up a bit I will summarize the
rest.
I joined the Air force, we moved around a lot. We had two
beautiful daughters and got divorced after 17 years of
total bliss. Yea right. LOL Any how, Last Oct, I met the
new love of my life right here at AdlandPro.
Many of you know her. Her name is Ally. Her and I and her 5
yr old daughter , Summer have been together ever since last
Jan. 4th , 2006 and we are all very happy now. There is
quite an age difference between Ally and I but even that is
working out just fine. I always tell Ally how it used to be
and she gets a kick out of telling me how it is.
Oh. I have a few business interests too now. Some really
good ones too I might add. Watch for my links in my
signature line. Elizabeth Westberry, we send you our
love,our prayers and our healing light.
http://community.adlandpro.com/forums/729254/2/ShowThread.aspx http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/elizabethwestberry
May a smile follow you to sleep each
night,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and be there waiting,,, when
you awaken.
Sincerly,
Bill Vanderbilt
Mental Health And Political Forums Respectively
http://community.adlandpro.com/forums/8212/ShowForum.aspx
http://community.adlandpro.com/forums/9637/ShowForum.aspx
I welcome you to join me in my new network Billdaddy's Team
Builder Network http://billdaddy-network.ryze.com/
Bless yourself by blessing others
http://community.adlandpro.com/forums/thread/958020.aspx
http://www.ryze.com/posttopic.php?topicid=935819&confid=3330 |
It is time to congratulate William on her POTW win. Please invite
Williamto join your list of friends if he isn't already on it.
William Vanderbilt,
Peter, Ana Maria and I are glad to be honoring
you in this week's POTW forum.
You've have a been a great asset to our wonderful
community.
Enjoy your week as our
POTW and Queen of AdlandPro!
Thank you Adland Friends for supporting
the POTW Forum
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