To Honor Stacey Weathers, Friends ‘Pay It Forward’

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By Danielle Schipani
People are turning tragedy and their personal grief into acts of kindness and generosity, following the tragic death of Stacey Gregerson Weathers, 46, of Tinton Falls, who died on Route 34 in Colts Neck during a storm on Oct. 3, when a tree fell down on her car.
Weathers was the executive director of New Jersey’s chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for over 11 years and is credited with helping raise $7 million for the society during her time there. Her friends said she was a beautiful, vibrant and caring person.
More than 1200 people inspired by Weathers’ life have come together on a memorial Facebook page called “This is Stacey.” They are sharing their stories of random acts of kindness in an effort “to share the generous light she left behind.”
They are also raising money for the cause Weathers held so dear. At the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation One Walk benefit Sunday the team that called itself “This is Stacey” raised $2,145 for Type 1 diabetes research.
Weathers spent much of her time raising money for charity and to remember her, people wish to commemorate her life by helping others. These actions have included buying strangers coffee and gift cards, offering people a car ride, and other acts.
One member of the Facebook page, Allison Celmer Cerco, shared with the group, “This morning I paid for the car behind me at Dunkin Donuts. This was something I have always wanted to do but never did. Today I thought it was a good day to do this in honor and memory of Stacey and all the good that she did. I will continue to do random acts of kindness in her honor and will always think of her and share with others what a beautiful, loving and caring person she was.
Another member of the page, Santa Myles, told this story: “Today while I was driving through Long Branch, I saw a young man riding his bicycle and struggling to hang onto a backpack and 3 bags. He was having such a hard time as he dropped one of his bags on the street. I turned my car around and asked him if I could help him deliver his bags where he was headed. The look of relief and gratitude that I saw on his face was so uplifting. Would I have done this normally? I would have thought to, but probably would have kept driving, but today I stopped, because of Stacey.”