5 Questions: Lisa Venable talks about serving kids through the Boxwood soccer program
Tell us about your job and what is the mission of the Muscogee County Medical Society?
It's a great job for me because I get to work for physicians who are smart and interesting. I collect their dues, handle the office and plan great events and meetings for them.
The formal mission of the Muscogee County Medical Society, which has been here since 1905, is to "promote the art and science of medicine." However, in today's busy world, for physicians it's become more about them having the opportunity to see other community physicians face to face, network and socialize. I also help put together the MCMS Bulletin, which is the monthly publication that the members write in. They can get information about what's going on in the medical community.
We also have a website, Facebook and a directory called the "Yellow Card" that we publish and distribute to patients and offices. I collect dues and each year we send our delegates to the Medical Association of Georgia's House of Delegates, where physicians from all over the state discuss issues of importance to them and write resolutions. Then MAG takes these issues to our legislators to let them know where physicians stand. It is a part-time job, but it definitely keeps me busy and mostly out of trouble!
You're involved with the Boxwood soccer program. How is that working out?
My husband, Greg Herring, and I had worked with refugee children through All Saints Episcopal Church and the Decatur-DeKalb YMCA with a soccer program aimed at at-risk children. He coached boys and I coached a girls team. We had a great time doing this and he really missed it when we moved to Columbus. When we had an interim priest, Pat Merchant at St. Thomas, Greg asked her about the idea to start a soccer program here for children that could not afford it. She was very encouraging and we moved forward and asked around about fields. When we asked Columbus Parks and Recreation if we could use the field in Beallwood, they directed us to the Boxwood Recreation Center and its director, Sharon Hunter. We have had a great partnership ever since.
Our new rector, Grace Burton-Edwards, is very supportive of our ministry so we are very fortunate. We have had two to three teams each season and volunteers at St. Thomas are involved in coaching, transportation, snacks, general support of soccer registrations fees and uniforms. I am so proud of my church and what they do for the Boxwood community and these children. We already knew that soccer teaches teamwork, basics of getting along, persevering, showing up and doing your best. We have really seen a lot of the players grow as far as their character and working with their teammates. It is a great thing to be a part of.
Also, last spring we added a program called Path To Shine, Columbus, which is a mentoring-tutoring program from the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta. We have specially trained volunteers from St. Thomas who help children in the program work on schoolwork, math and reading, and then we read a book and ask questions or have a speaker. We recently had Café Path to Shine where the teachers were waiters and the children were eating out in a restaurant. We worked on manners, ordering from a menu and paying for your meal. We try to make it creative and fun!
What's the biggest challenge and the biggest reward working with underprivileged kids?
We are always working on "the attitude," which means behavior or just paying attention. It comes from bad circumstances, the children move a lot, are hard to contact and often lack a safe place to play. The parents would rather keep them indoors, so that's why a supervised sports program and mentoring tutoring program is so important. The Boxwood Recreation Center is great for that and has this nice soccer field.
But one of the challenges with these children was they wanted to play football or basketball. So, we had to introduce them to the game of soccer, whereas the refugees in Atlanta all knew how to play soccer. We want the children involved to have something to look forward to like going to Path to Shine on Thursday and having a soccer party or getting to play a soccer game.
We also have children who get emotional and need to be encouraged to read, work on their math or just try their best. The biggest reward is getting to know all these kids! I mean really getting to know them. They are not just kids to me, they are Jacob and Joshua, Angel and Kori and I am Coach Lisa and my husband is Coach Greg.
The relationships go through the ups and downs. That is when you can appreciate what is going on, when you say, "Did you see how he handled that? He would have never been able to do that before." That's what this is all about. We lose sleep over these kids, we pray for them and their families.
You and your family lived in Atlanta before moving here. How does Columbus stack up?
Well, Atlanta is exciting and I miss the shopping, museums, theater and restaurants, but there are good restaurants and shopping here. Here's the thing about Atlanta, you lose time because you spend most of it in traffic. Most of your life in Atlanta is trying to get somewhere on time. It is very stressful.
I get upset over how slow people drive here, but then I get it, they are not worried about being stuck for an hour on 285. Also, if you want to go to the symphony at the RiverCenter, you do not have to leave home an hour before you go and pay $10-$15 for parking and then wonder if your car will be there when you get back. That is the part of living in Atlanta that I don't miss, also people are friendly here! I also like being closer to my mom and dad, who live here. I really missed my church and friends at first but am finding new friends here and love St. Thomas.
What is the best kept secret in the Chattahoochee Valley?
I guess for me it's the outdoor adventures, the whitewater, zip line and all that. I was skeptical at first, but it is a blast. If you have not climbed that tower and walked the plank to the ranger jump and then zip-lined across the river, you have to do it!
Name: Lisa Venable
Age: 57
Job: Executive director, Muscogee County Medical Society
Hometown: Born Alexandria, La., grew up in Columbus, Clubview Elementary and Brookstone School.
Current home: Columbus
Family: Husband, Greg, daughter, Lizzie Venable
Education: University of Alabama, Bachelor of Arts in communications
Favorite book: “The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt
Favorite movie: “Life of Pi”
Favorite restaurant: Pho Vi
Favorite quote: “Old age is not for sissies” — Mae West
Favorite song: “Hurt,” the Johnny Cash version
Best concert attended: Holy cow, that was long time ago, I think it was the Clash in New Orleans!
This story was originally published January 18, 2015 at 8:19 PM with the headline "5 Questions: Lisa Venable talks about serving kids through the Boxwood soccer program."