Landmark 13 is an organization that helps others in need. Whether they are at-risk youth, adults recovering from drug and alcohol addiction or orphans in Haiti. The “13” in the New York-based title name comes from: 13 percent of all transactions is donated to worthy causes.
Company president Brian Smyth put this principle into action several years ago, after getting to know Shekeel “Shack” Williams. Shekeel is a polite and friendly young man who works at a Chick-Fil-A in North Mount Pleasant near Charleston, S.C.
“I was finishing up a drink and he came by and said, ‘Can I get you another drink?’” Brian recalled. After chatting for a few minutes, he got up to leave and Shack “was holding the door open for me and he gave me a hug.”
They soon developed a fast friendship. Brian soon learned that his new friend had been left developmentally disabled by neurological damage caused by a blood disorder.
“Judging by how happy and upbeat he is, you would never guess he suffers from recurring strokes and sickle cell anemia,” reads a post on Landmark 13’s Web site.
Brian helped cover some of the family’s mounting medical costs, and in February took on an even more active role. He and a construction crew tore down the mobile home in McClellanville where Shack and his family lived and built them a larger home, complete with appliances and furniture.
Their old home has only two-bedrooms that housed not only Shack and his mother, Tulanda, but also her two adopted nieces.
“People respect him and he respects them and I always tell him, ‘Shack, treat somebody how you would want somebody to treat you,” said Shack’s mother, Tulanda Williams.
“I thank God first of all, and thank God for my son,” she added.
“It’s like a blessing,” Shack agreed.
If you know someone who might like this, please click “Share!”
