Tribute to Matt Moore: A Personal Reflection on Mentoring & Legacy

I first came to know Matt when I stepped in to help continue the "Everybody Eats" program created by Almeta Crayton. When Ms. Almeta suddenly passed in 2013, I joined with Kentrell Minton and others to keep her legacy of feeding the community on Thanksgiving Day alive. Matt stepped in to strengthen us and provided the leadership we needed to fulfill her vision. That was the moment I realized he was someone I truly wanted to learn from on my own journey as a new community leader.

He helped me to join the Chamber of Commerce, taught me how to network, and showed me how to step outside my comfort zone with confidence—standing tall as the leader he saw I could be.

When COVID hit, like so many others, I felt like I couldn't go on. My work was with children, face-to-face. But when I was urged to build a Virtual Program and secured funding to do so, Matt met with me frequently over Zoom. He gave me pep talks, guiding me through my fears and doubts about what we could build once the pandemic ended. It took us until 2023 before we returned to full on-site programming levels, but Matt constantly reminded me that we were just beginning and urged me to hang in there.

Eventually, we received the kind of funding we knew and believed we could earn and work with. The amount was larger than what I first thought we needed and we soon grew comfortable with the responsibility of having enough funding to actually build our capacity and grow. Our infrastructure was strengthened, we built a solid Board, and Grade A Plus became recognized as a trustworthy, credible pillar in the community. I held a long-term dream that Matt told me we would reach together—and I hung onto those golden words with strong faith.

I began to email Matt in November 2025, searching for a response from him, trying to set up a mentoring session. I emailed him prayers, and was feeling nervous about our continuing future together as a mentor/ mentee team. I never had a Dad or a brother, so my conversations with him were important on a lot of levels. Matt was the kind of mentor every servant-leader should have. He called me and we scheduled to meet in April 2026. I shared my updates and strategic plan, and with a warm smile, he told me I was doing good—just like he knew I would. He promised we would meet again later in the summer, but we never got the chance.

When I received the news in September, thirty days after he passed away, it took my breath away. I sank into absolute disbelief. Fears returned, and the thought of being that little girl who could achieve something but wouldn't swept over me like a dark cloud. I felt an emptiness that I experience everytime a person leaves my life and moves into eternity. In the wake of his passing, I felt alone, cut off, and left behind. There would be no public ceremonies, photos, or official awards to mark the countless hours of wisdom he gifted to me and Grade A Plus.  I knew I had to stay strong and keep moving.

Matt was a true mentor. I shared my deepest thoughts and anxieties with him, and he calmly helped me navigate every single one of them. It wasn't therapy, it was feeling heard, being seen, and being affirmed in being the person I was. He taught me to truly accept myself.

I want everyone to know that when an angel is placed in your life, caring for you for over ten years, you cannot help but feel the deep ache of their loss. I still quietly talk to Matt. I ask myself, “What would Matt say to me about this?” The bottom line is: I cannot waste the time he gave me. I have to be what he said I could be—confident, strong, and passionate about this work.

Thank you, Matt, for helping me become a stronger Executive Director, a visionary servant-leader, and a confident community leader. You helped so many people and organizations, but you and I both know how much you truly helped me. I promise I will not let you down. I will be the very best that I can be—just as you did for so many of us for so long a period of time.

Janice Dawson-Threat, Executive Director

2014 to Present