During our 2015 Annual Chapter Meeting in May, held during our Inaugural IDEA Conference weekend, we announce the winners of AMTA-MA Chapter Awards. The awards included the President's Award, the Meritorious Award and the Humanitarian Award. Humanitarian is defined as a person who seeks to promote human welfare. Synonyms include philanthropist, altruist, benefactor, patron, social reformer, good Samaritan...ok, you get the point! Our 2015 Humanitarian Award winner is Kathleen Short. She's all of those things and so much more! We wanted her to share the following with you, our chapter member.
What did it mean to you to receive the AMTA-MA Chapter's Meritorious Award?
If you love what you are doing, you are the luckiest person in the world. That's me. I give spiritual direction, direct retreats, pastoral counseling, massage , reflexology, and teach chair yoga. All these ministries are blessings in my life. Sometimes I work with a group of multicultural massage therapists who service immigrants, the poor, the elderly, the sick and those addicted to drugs and alcohol. I volunteer at Cushing House for girls which is a recovery house for teens and every month give a spirituality talk ending each session with a gentle chair massage. I also volunteer massaging at both the Best Buddies and Pan Mass Challenge rides. I am a sister of St. Joseph of Boston and my religious community has supported my holistic journey. For this I am most grateful. Thank you for the acknowledgement but the true gift in what I do is serving others.