Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 13A
Reporter
December 12, 2012
The Mallory Project
Forsyth family hopes on-line
sales can help special-needs
adults become self-sufficient
BY WILL DAVIS
M ary Persons
senior Mallo
ry Moss is the
namesake for
a new on-line
sales concept, The Mallory
Project, aimed at giving her
and other special needs stu
dents a way to be self-suffi
cient.
"She has an opportunity
to do something really spe
cial here," says her dad,
Jeff Moss, "and our goal is
for her to do well enough
never to require public
assistance."
The daughter of Jeff and
Camille Moss of the River
Forest community, Mallory
has just turned 22 years
old and will therefore no
longer be able to attend
MP after this year. So her
parents are eager to help
her find new challenges.
And that has birthed The
Mallory Project, a sales
campaign they hope can
help special needs adults
and others find a meaning
ful career by helping oth
ers.
JEFF MOSS was a high
ly successful pharmaceuti
cal sales rep and manager
for Pfizer before starting
his own company,
LEMarketing, this past
year. One of the products
he had access to in his new
business was
VitaMeal, a large
bag of grits-like
substance that
when mixed with
water can serve up
to 30 children in
Third World coun
tries and areas of
devastation. These are
meals that are nutritious
and healthy. It is made by
a company called Nu Skin.
VitaMeals are purchased
through distributors like
Mallory and are donated.
The donated VitaMeals are
then sent directly to the
charity Feed the Children,
which sends the bags of
ready-to-serve food over
seas because it can feed so
many children there.
Mallory sells the bags for
just $23.50, and donations
for the VitaMeal are con
sidered an in-kind dona
tion, thus tax deductible.
Customers can also have
VitaMeal shipped to them
if they like and deliver
them to anyone they wish.
Moss said the product is
the perfect fit for his
daughter because it's some
thing she can understand
and it has a moral purpose.
In addition to VitaMeals,
Mallory is able to promote
Nu Skin's Epoch line of
personal care products that
also contribute to support
the Force For Good
Foundation. The Force For
Good Foundation has
established farms in
Malawi Africa that teach
agricultural skills to farm
ers so that they become
self-sufficient.
"Nobody's ever done this
before," said Moss. "When
you start thinking about it,
what are the opportunities
for special needs adults to
have a realistic and mean
ingful job? They're few and
far between. This company
provides such an opportu
nity."
Mallory Moss flew to
Utah last week to meet
with company leaders to
discuss her effort, and she
spoke to a crowd of 100
people in Atlanta about
The Mallory Project the
week before that. The
Mallory Project has been
registered as an LLC and
opened a business account
at the bank.
"I want to be a force for
good," said Mallory, noting
that they don't want to let
malnourished children die.
One child dies every six
seconds from malnutrition,
but 281 million Vitameals
have now been served to
dent that. Teaching farm
ers how to produce their
own food helps them care
for their own family as
well.
By selling Vitameals and
other products, Jeff Moss
says he hopes his daughter
can earn enough money to
get off of public assistance.
Mallory currently receives
Medicaid money, but he
hopes that through her
project, one day she will be
able to do without govern
ment money.
THE IDEA of using this
program to make that hap
pen came to him recently
as he realized it was the
last year she could go to
school. Moss said while he
and his wife can support
her now, they believe there
will be a time when they'll
be gone that their son Jay
Moss, a freshman at UGA,
will have to take over. It
would really help, they
said, if she could build her
own source of income.
From Medicaid, Mallory
gets about $450 per month
and about $1,000 for med
ications. Mallory has set a
goal of selling 500 bags of
VitaMeal per month as
Mary Persons student Mallory Moss and her dad Jeff Moss
in Utah last week to talk about The Mallory Project. (Special
to the Reporter)
"He found a way to over
come," said Moss. "This can
provide her with something
to do she will feel good
about. I'm hoping this will
provide some inspiration to
others."
Jeff Moss said he hopes
that other developmentally
challenged adults can join
Mallory in selling
‘She has an opportunity to do something really
special here. Our goal is for her to do well
enough never to require public assistance.’
- Jeff Moss, on his daughter Mallory Moss
well as other products,
which would allow her to
get off of Medicaid. While
many people no longer see
public assistance as some
thing to avoid, Moss said
he does.
"The elections show more
people are trying to get on
it," said Moss, "but we
want to show how you can
get off of it, with some hard
work. This opportunity has
instilled in Mallory a sense
of pride and purpose."
Moss said while he and
his wife donate five bags of
VitaMeal each month, he
never knew how to sell the
product through his mar
keting business because he
didn't understand how it
fit.
Then he recalled the story
of Bill Porter, the Oregon
man with cerebral palsy
who persuaded a company,
reluctantly, to hire him as a
door to door salesman.
They gave him their worst
territory and yet he eventu
ally became the company's
No. 1 salesman.
VitaMeals and the Epoch
line of products that help
support the Force for Good.
"It's a way for functional
ly disabled adults to have a
meaningful career by mar
keting this and other prod
ucts," said Moss.
Mallory is a member of
The Club, a group of spe
cial needs students organ
ized by Martie Brown, and
Moss hopes Club members
will also want to partici
pate.
"We want to use the ill
ness that has plagued her
since age five and try to do
good with it," said Moss.
"It's the only way to ration
alize what she's been
through."
MALLORY MOSS was
already an inspiration
through her struggle to
overcome violent seizures
she started having back
when she was five years
old. Doctors diagnosed her
with a degenerative brain
disorder, and treatments
and medication gave only
mixed results.
Mallory's doctors and her
parents worried that the
continual seizures would
soon leave her mentally
retarded, or even claim her
life.
Thankfully, Dr. Arno
Fried of Hackensack
University Medical Center
found the Moss family and
offered to help.
Fried performed
two brain surgeries
in 2000 and 2001,
removing most of
Mallory's left
frontal lobe and
severed the junction
between the left
and right side of her brain
by two-thirds. As a result,
Mallory's seizures
decreased dramatically.
Her struggles and progress
were movingly retold in
2001 in an 8-part series in
the Macon Telegraph by
reporter Joe Kovac, a story
that went nationwide.
However, as expected, the
surgeries left her develop
mentally delayed.
Mallory Moss is no
stranger to taking on big
projects. In 2006, along
with her family, Mallory
actively lobbied Georgia
lawmakers to pass a new
law ending the require
ment that parents of per
manently disabled children
must apply for new handi
capped parking tags every
two years. The act received
unanimous approval by the
Georgia Legislature and
it's called Mallory's Act.
To learn more, please visit
facebook.com/TheMalloryPr
oject or email Mallory:
Mallory@TheMalloryProjec
t.com
We appreciate your
loyal patronage
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