I am nominating my coworker Jordan for KDWB’s Christmas wish. Jordan is a chemical dependency counselor who works specifically with opiate addicts. It is a high risk population that is demanding of a lot of his time and energy. He works tirelessly to support his clients through difficult life events and gives so much of himself every day at his job. He consistently works with his clients to help them reach their goals of long-term sobriety. Jordan’s clients often run into barriers which make it difficult for them to continue pursuing their recovery goals. However, Jordan helps clients come up with alternative plans or helps them develop the coping skills needed to keep going.
On top of his stressful work environment Jordan’s home life has been consistently stressful as well. Last year Jordan’s wife gave birth to twin girls who were 2 months premature. Twin babies present their own challenges and Jordan never hesitated to tell everyone at work how difficult it was but how it was totally worth it. Jordan would light up every time he discussed his home life even if things were hard. As things started to even out this year and Jordan and his wife began to adjust to life with two babies, Jordan’s wife was diagnosed with colon cancer. Jordan shared with his coworkers how important it was for him to be there for his wife through this difficulty and he was always talking about how he was trying to make things easier for her. With the stress of helping his wife and daughters through this hard time as his coworkers we were ready to help Jordan in any way we could, but his dedication to his job and his clients never wavered. He continued to put his client’s needs first and would put aside any of his own needs while he was with his clients to ensure they had the best chance of recovering.
Jordan is always the first to recognize the many blessings in his life despite how difficult things have been. He has a difficult time accepting help and is such a dedicated husband, father, friend, and coworker that we want to show him how valuable he is in so many people’s lives. He’s a caretaker and more often than not he prioritizes everyone else’s needs over his own. Jordan’s family has had a difficult time over the past year but their love for each other continues to grow. We are nominating Jordan because he gives so much every day and this is an opportunity for us to give back.
We jumped at the chance to help Jordan and his family this Christmas!
For the Kirsch family we gave a $600 Coborns Delivers Gift Card, two $101 SuperAmerica Gift Cards, $100 Davanni’s Pizza gift card, $200 Wild Bill’s gift card, $200 Masu Sushi & Robata gift card, $50 Minnesota Zoo gift card, a brand new Xbox One courtesy of Pepsi, gift cards for a night out, 300 diapers, baby wipes and a massage chair cushion!
For Jordan, games for his new Xbox, Need for Speed, Call of Duty WW2 and Star Wars Battlefront. Vikings accessories, clothing, winter jacket, coffee mug and treat tower. For Nicole a Vera Bradley wallet courtesy of Pepsi, bath and body products, clothes, pillow & blanket. For the twins, Ashlyn and Mackenzie, pillows & blankets, toys, vikings clothes, onsies and red wagon
We couldn't do KDWB's Christmas Wish without your donations. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation. Special thanks to Venture Bank. Plus, part of the donations will automatically go to YouthLink to help homeless youth in the Twin Cities.
LISTEN: Dave Ryan calls to surprise the Kirsch Family with a KDWB Christmas Wish