Brendie Bandara’s cubicle is jam-packed with photos of her 13 nieces and nephews. That’s because the City’s risk management administrative analyst places a heavy emphasis on her family and faith.
The 25-year-old city employee is a ball of energy. She devotes countless hours to a stack of paperwork to ensure things run smoothly when it comes to City contracts, claims and insurance. But, at the end of the day, it doesn’t end. Whenever she wears her shirt with the city emblem on it, she’s more than happy to answer the frequent arbitrary questions asked by people who run into her on the street. She’s happy to help.
“They say things like, ‘Do you know why construction is being done in my neighborhood? It’s backing up traffic?’ or ‘Did you know about the pothole on such and such a street?’”
Bandara directs them to where they can find answers if she can’t satisfy their questions herself.
Of course, she could avoid all of the questions by just not wearing her city polo shirt. But, she wears it proudly because she really likes to help people. It’s just in her nature and always has been.
“I grew up with six brothers and sisters. My Mom owned a Christian pre-school and I loved helping out with the kids. “One of my favorite activities was to put on puppet shows for the kids and tell elaborate stories that I’d make up on the spot,” says Bandara.
That sense of love can be seen in her close-knit relationship with nieces and nephews and more recently with the parentless kids in an orphanage in Haiti where she visited for eight days while on a mission through the Three Angel’s Children’s Relief organization.
As part of her mission commitment she transported two suitcases of needed supplies to the children in Haiti, including soy milk for the lactose-intolerant babies, diapers and boys clothing, among other items.
“It’s amazing the amount of love these kids have to give. Many of them would have died from starvation if they hadn’t gotten to live in the orphanage. You go there and you see how the lack of electricity and running water can really slow down doing even the simplest of things, like brushing your teeth,” says Bandara, referring to a daily ritual she no longer thinks of in the same way as she did prior to her trip to Haiti.
“You can hardly go to a place where people have so little and appreciate what they have and not have it change the way you see life,” says Bandara.
She says that she wishes the people of the Santa Clarita Valley would, “Think outside and beyond Town Center Drive,” and realize the major issues going on with the health of underprivileged children around the world. Those are strong words coming from a gentle soul. But, if her example of how she treats family, starving children and the inquisitive SCV public is any indication of what is possible in a busy world filled with piles of paperwork, she just may be the pied piper of kindness spread daily from a pure and well-intentioned heart.
For further information about the orphanage Bandara recently visited, check out www.threeangelshaiti.org .