Something Good: Trio Of Norman Moms Care For Their Community

When Norman schools announced this summer that they were starting the year with virtual learning, a group of moms sprang into action to help parents in need.

And it all started with a simple conversation.

"We all kind of started talking among our mom friends, ‘what are you going to do, what's your plan?’" said Norman mother of three Lindsey Diffendaffer.

She quickly realized not all families had a plan for watching their kids during remote learning.

"Instead of being upset about the situation, we kind of started thinking, how can we make this better," Diffendaffer said.

She put together a formidable philanthropic team that consisted of Julie Benedict, who has experience with nonprofits, and Ashley Vickers who is a marketing whiz.

The trio of Norman moms launched the online campaign Norman Cares for Kids, with proceeds going to the United Way of Norman to fund daycare scholarships.

Their initial goal was $2,000.

 "Within 24 hours we passed that, so we raised our goal to 10,000 and then, I think like two days later we passed that," Diffendaffer said.

"My friend said, do 20 (thousand), I thought there's no way, no way, and within a week, we had made 20,000 off of it. People are so generous and so loving," Benedict said.

Norman kids and parents have been the direct beneficiaries of that love and generosity.

For kids it means a safe place to learn and play, for parents, peace of mind.

"It would be a decision often times of, does one parent work, does one stay home? How do we pay rent? How do we put food on the table? So they're taking that barrier out," said Daren Wilson, United Way of Norman President.

The moms raised so much the first go-around that the United Way was still using money from the fundraiser to support families last week when Norman Public Schools temporarily went virtual again.

And should the need arise again for funding the United Way knows where to turn.

"So many times, people think that they're individual effort can't change a life or make a difference. But we do see it. We see it every day in our community," Wilson said.