SAN MARCOS, Calif. — Some people are just born to serve. In this Zevely Zone I met a young woman from Valley Center who moves mountains to help others.
I met Sydney Stevenson at Bent Motorsports in San Marcos and to meet her is to take the road less traveled. Her souped up Jeep was raised on a lift at the garage so we grabbed a couple chairs and rolled on under to chat.
"I've never done an interview under a Jeep before," I said. Sydney smiled and said, "We'll there you go a first for everything right?"
Sydney isn't your typical 20-year old, this young lady from Valley Center has spent her life helping others. "You know, it's an amazing feeling, knowing you have the power to do something different and you have the power to change somebody's life," said Sydney.
As you might expect, Sydney is not the type to boast about her good deeds, so we begged her mother Sally to do it for her. "Sydney where's the tissues?" said Sally about to cry. I responded, "I have not even asked a question yet!" Sally looked at me through tears and said, "You're going to ask me about my daughter and this is what happens."
From the day her daughter was born, Sally says there was something special about Sydney. "She has always had a heart for people for sure." Later in life, compassion came in the form of candles. The more Sydney could make the faster she could raise enough money to go to Nicaragua to not only build homes but to pay for them for those in need. "She was 17 when she did that," said Sally.
Sydney then decided to raise a guide dog for a legally blind woman in Arizona. "We can all impact one person," said Sally.
Sydney is grabbing the steering wheel of giving again. She is preparing to drive off road in the Rebelle Rally this October in hopes of raising money to fight sex trafficking. "Jeff, so many of them are around my age and younger," said Sydney.
She's raising 20-thousand dollars to participate in the 16-hundred mile competition and secured an anonymous donor to match dollar for dollar the money to help young women in need. "It's a big deal in our backyard. It's a big deal in San Diego which unfortunate but it means we are in the best place to do something about it," said Sydney.
She's a giver alright. Even on our shoot, Sydney couldn't help herself. "I just always make cookies so for my thank you and I made ten batches of cookies," said Sydney. Chocolate chip for me and Snicker Doodles for my photographer Scott. "This is when I start crying," said her mom.
If you'd like to help donate toward Sydney's new journey this October, we can link you to her Go Fund Me Page at www.gofundme.com.