Submitted by Mickie Brown
Sometimes you meet people and you instantly know that they are the kind of person that does so much for others. Gayle Ruffing is certainly one of those people. I’ve known Gayle and her son Clayton for quite a few years, even before The Landing opened, but I really got to see who Gayle was from the inside out when others needed help. Gayle has been hands-on offering her talents whenever needed.
Gayle loves to sew and she is a very gifted seamstress. One of the first projects I remember Gayle taking on at Noah’s Landing is when the 2 by 2 acting group needed costumes for the Christmas program. Gayle jumped right in and outfitted 16 of our residents with nativity costumes. Then Gayle made 11 new costumes, 5 shirts for the air band, repaired/altered 9 costumes for the phenomenal “Let it Shine” productions. For the Christmas party Gayle decided to make 10 adorable Elf costumes to be Santa’s helpers. You could almost take any costume and turn it inside out and wear it, that’s what an excellent seamstress Gayle is. And so much of what Gayle does is out of her own money and generous heart.The past four years Gayle has altered 300 plus prom dresses for Night to Shine and in several cases she’s literally had to take the dresses apart and redo them to make them fit. Endless yards of fabric, countless hours and sleepless nights and a lot of TLC were put into making our loved ones look amazing. Gayle sews for the Oviedo Optimist Club as well.
Gayle is also right there if food is needed for one of our many parties. She’s just one of those rare people that doesn’t like to say “No” and who truly overextends herself to help others, but is right there the next time offering to help in any way that she can. She car pools on a regular basis to the Lakeland Community Theatre to Out of the Box and to Ultimate Dance just to make sure our loved ones have a ride and can participate and get out in the greater community.
She also organized our very first bridal shower at the landing for Lauren and Cody and did such a fabulous job.
Not only does Gayle do all of these things, but she is a mom and a full-time caregiver to her elderly mother who is in her 90s and has challenging health issues. How Gayle keeps going is beyond me, but she graciously does. I’m sure there’s much more that I have missed in all that Gayle has done in just a couple years since being involved in our community, but I’ve highlighted enough to show just a little of who Gayle Ruffing is from the inside. I can guarantee you that Gayle will find this story about herself embarrassing and undeserving because she doesn’t do what she does for praise or for recognition, she does it because that’s who she is and what she’s made of.
Thank You Gayle Ruffing for being so genuine.
