Moll Anderson’s personal story of desperation fuels commitment to Boys and Girls Club

Merri Lee Fox, left, owner of Gift, Gourmet & Interiors, left, Moll Anderson, center, and Mary Ellen Brewington, one of the founders of Purses with Purpose, pose for a photo for the News Sentinel.

Merri Lee Fox, left, owner of Gift, Gourmet & Interiors, Moll Anderson, center, and Mary Ellen Brewington, one of the founders of Purses with Purpose, pose for a photo for the News Sentinel.

Author and lifestyle expert Moll Anderson had some of us in tears last week when she gave an impromptu talk to a meeting of the group that calls itself Purses with Purpose.

The group is a bunch of women who each chip in $200 and then decide together what girl-related program at the Boys and Girls Club of the Tennessee Valley they would like the money to fund.

Moll Anderson with Kelly Simler, who overseas the Vestal Ladies program for Boys and Girls Club

Moll Anderson with Kelly Simler, who overseas the Vestal Ladies program for Boys and Girls Club

Moll is an author and lifestyles expert who moved here from Nashville when she married Knoxville’s Charlie Anderson a few years ago. She lives in a beautiful home she has renovated for the couple on Lyons View Pike. A drop-dead gorgeous woman who looks nowhere near her age (51), you would never guess she has had anything but a charmed life. Click here to see her website and you’ll see what I mean.

But appearances can be deceiving, as she shared with our group of about 60 women gathered for our membership meeting at Gift, Gourmet & Interiors.

Moll related that she is a survivor of child sex abuse at the hands of a relative of a childhood friend. She married young, divorced and became a single parent when her son was only two. Her own horrible childhood experiences caused her to be especially protective of her son. Alone with a toddler in Los Angeles, she relied on the Boys and Girls Club to provide a safe environment for him while she went out seeking employment in the television business.

Katherine Lattimer shops for a good cause.

Katherine Latimer shops for a good cause.

“I was in California and the only thing I could do was act and be on television. I had no college,” she said. “The Boys and Girls Club became my rock. If you don’t have help sometimes, you are sunk. I don’t know what I would have done without them.”

She said the Boys and Girls Club gave her son many opportunities he otherwise would not have gotten. “He got so much out of it in the areas of sports and leadership training,” she said. “Today he is a wonderful husband and a wonderful man.”

She said we as a community need to be sure our children receive support and know they are special. “That’s what the Boys and Girls Clubs do,” she said.

This year, the Purses with Purpose group voted to give its funding to a program called Vestal Ladies, an organization of girls between the ages of 8 and 13 who live in the Vestal area of South Knoxville. They meet weekly at the Boys and Girls Club to discuss problems and issues specific to adolescent girls.

For more information on the Boys and Girls Club of the Tennessee Valley, click here. For more information on Purses with Purpose, call Amanda Brummerstedt at (865) 248-1105 or e-mail her at [email protected]. For another story about Purses with Purpose, click here.

A special thanks to Gift, Gourmet & Interiors which donated 15 percent of all its sales last Thursday to Purses with Purpose.

Sixty women gathered for a good cause -- and shopping!

Sixty women gathered for a good cause -- and shopping!

Moll speaking about her support of Boys and Girls Clubs

Moll speaking about her support of Boys and Girls Clubs

From left, Andrea White, Kay Clayton and Michelle Henry

From left, Andrea White, Kay Clayton and Michelle Henry

Michelle Hardin, left, and Donna Dempster

Michelle Hardin, left, and Donna Dempster

Judith Foltz, left, and Mary Ellen Brewington

Judith Foltz, left, and Mary Ellen Brewington

Janet Testerman, left, and Linda Wiley

Janet Testerman, left, and Linda Wiley

Lillian Mashburn samples the Cabot cheeses. My fave? The habanero cheese, which I'd never seen before. And I thought the jalapeno was hot!

Lillian Mashburn samples the Cabot cheeses. My fave? The habanero cheese, which I'd never seen before. And I thought the jalapeno was hot!

Sherry McHaffie, left, and Lorie Jaynes consider a purchase.

Sherry McHaffie, left, and Lorie Jaynes consider a purchase.

Is this not the cutest letter opener in the world?

Is this not the cutest letter opener in the world?

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3 Responses to Moll Anderson’s personal story of desperation fuels commitment to Boys and Girls Club

  1. Cynthia Moxley, on February 1st, 2011 at 1:51 pm said:

    A little more info about Vestal Ladies, provided by Boys and Girls Clubs: “Vestal Ladies is a structured support group for young ladies ages 10 to 13. The program is designed to promote self esteem, positive peer relationships, independence, learning, and etiquette. It is important for young ladies to be encouraged to develop a close relationship with the ‘self’ and to become aware of all reactions and feelings that she may have in a group. Educating and empowering young ladies to have a strong sense of self is very important. It is imperative that young ladies know that their opinions matter and that they, even at a young age, have something positive to offer to others.”

  2. katie allison granju, on February 18th, 2011 at 8:59 pm said:

    I just love Moll. She’s a terrific person, and I especially admire her willingness to share her own story honestly to help others understand why the Boys and Girls Club is so important.

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