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Purpose Spotlight: Syd Martin - Creator of Giving Rocks Foundation

By Laura posted 12-12-2017 10:27

  

Purpose Spotlight - Syd Martin

When Sydney Martin was 10 years old she was diagnosed with Langerhan’s Cell Histiocytosis.  LCH is a type of blood cancer that affects roughly 1 in 200,000 children per year who are under the age of 10. 

Sydney soon started chemotherapy to help ease her symptoms.  She was scared and the treatments made her feel awful.

Before she got sick, Sydney had been making necklaces out of the rocks she found on the beaches of Lake Michigan.  When she realized how little LCH research was being done, Syd decided to sell these necklaces to raise money.  The proceeds of sales for her necklaces and other merchandise go to finding better treatments and a cure.

What inspired you to find your purpose? 

"I was being poked and prodded.  I felt like I had no control whatsoever over my life and what was going to happen to me.  There was something that I wanted to do that would change the entire negative experience into something positive for me and for others."  Syd shared.

What did you get out of discovering your purpose?

"Making and selling my necklaces helped me through a difficult time," said Syd.  "Giving Rocks gave that sense of control to me.  I could push myself even when I was sick to a point that I didn't realize I could."

Who has supported you in this journey?

Friends and family help collect rocks.  Then Syd and her friends thread each stone and Syd Rocks tag onto an adjustable cord.  "It really is a wave and it spreads throughout all of these different people.  And I just hope that wave keeps growing and growing and growing," Syd stated.

What kind of advice do you have to share with youth who are still searching for purpose?


"You are never too young to make a difference.  You can get all of these people around you, people who you love and people who care about you, to jump onto whatever cause you are most passionate about and change the world," Syd encouraged.

Thanks to Syd Martin for inspiring us with her story.  See below for more.

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