Jerilyn Brusseau
I would like you to meet a very special person. Her name is Jerilyn Brusseau. Chances are you have never heard of her but I’m fairly confident you are familiar with her most famous creation. Jerilyn is the creator of world famous Cinnabon cinnamon rolls. Last week I had the privilege of spending an entire day with her baking cupcakes and getting to know her. I along with several other bloggers participated in a Cinnabon cupcake retreat. If you’re interested in reading about it, I’ve posted about it here. However, this post is not about cupcakes or cinnamon rolls. This post is about Jerilyn and how the tragic death of her brother led her and family to start an amazing non-profit organization.
The short story of it is this. Jerilyn’s brother was killed during the Vietnam war when the plane he was piloting was shot down. Instead of harboring anger, Jerilyn and her family started a non-profit organization called Peace Trees Vietnam. This organization was birthed out of desire to promote healing between the Vietnamese and American people who lost loved ones. Peace Trees Vietnam removes landmines left from the war and also builds homes, provides medical treatments, and other infrastructures to help families who’ve been impacted by exploding landmines. To date almost 50,000 landmines have been cleared.
What is amazing about Jerilyn is her outlook on life. She is incredibly humble and compassionate motivated by love. To be able to start an organization birthed from tragedy to promote healing is not only selfless, but awe inspiring.
I realize not everyone can start life-changing organizations but everyone can work on changing attitudes and perspectives. To take the focus off ourselves and onto the needs of others may just be the greatest gift we can give humanity.
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Wow…Truly amazing. I’m always in awe of those who make a difference in the slightest bit. Thank you for sharing a bit of her story.
Thank you for sharing this. Amazing.
I had no idea the creator of Cinnabons did so much good in the world. Thanks.