That’s Cary Anne Bame’s motto
By B.C. Manion
Cary Anne Bame recalls a time when she was working with a volunteer group to transform a blind woman’s yard that was overgrown with weeds.
The blind woman took Bame aside and confided that her main wish was to be able to sit on the porch in the morning to listen to the chirping of birds.
The woman told Bame that the bird song was a reminder of her need to share the good news of her faith.
Bame returned to the woman’s home after the work group finished its task.
“I found a neat bench and built it on her deck for her a few weeks later,” Bame recalled. “She couldn’t see it but was able to get to the bench.”
It was an extremely gratifying experience that deepened Bame’s insight about how God can use her to have a positive impact in the lives of others.
Of course, it was just one of countless instances when the young Lutz woman has put personal pursuits aside to be of service to others.
During her years at Steinbrenner High she racked up nearly 340 community service hours. Bame’s accumulated a long list of honors including the district award for the youth category of the state Department of Education’s Outstanding Volunteer, which was given at the district’s SERVE – Volunteers in Education ceremony.
Bame has also received a national scholar athlete award from the U.S. Army Reserve and was named one of five all-around outstanding seniors in the school district by the Hillsborough County Council of PTA-PTSA.
She’s done all that while graduating sixth in her class, being her school’s homecoming queen, being captain of Steinbrenner’s district championship volleyball team and being selected as one of 12 incoming freshmen for Florida State University’s highly competitive Service Scholars program.
Despite her accomplishments, she’s quick to give the credit to others.
“I attribute all of my accolades and success to school administrators, church youth leaders, my parents and most importantly my faith,” Bame said.
She also said her teachers have been enormously helpful, and she believes teachers’ contributions to students’ success are frequently overlooked.
“Obviously, you wouldn’t have an education if it wasn’t for them,” Bame said.
While she praises others, those who know the young woman marvel at her achievements.
“Simply said, Cary Anne is amazing,” Judy Pressley, college and career counselor at Steinbrenner, wrote in nominating Bame for the youth volunteer award.
“Cary Anne has made a tremendous impact on the lives of many people,” Pressley noted. “She is one of the most deserving students I have encountered in my 14 years of working as college and career counselor.”
Pressley said she has no idea how Bame manages to balance her many academic and athletic demands while still performing such an enormous amount of community service. The counselor said she once asked Bame how she does it, and the young woman replied, “If only I didn’t have to sleep, I’d be OK.”
Bame’s service to others takes many forms.
She’s pitched in at school carnivals. She’s raised money to fight cancer through Relay For Life. She’s helped Meals on Wheels, Habitat for Humanity, Metropolitan Ministries and countless other causes.
She said the value of service — which she describes as love coupled with action — has been instilled in her since childhood.
“In my household, it’s kind of assumed that we serve others,” said Bame, the daughter of Cathy and Dave Bame.
Beyond learning from her parents, Bame said her 21-year-old sister, Katie, has also been a great teacher. She said she’s observed how her older sibling approaches people and values relationships.
Bame’s volunteer work began years ago, when she became active in a program called Reaching Inside and Out of Tampa (RIOT) at Van Dyke Church. The program offers people of many talents a chance to use their skills to help others.
“Officially, you’re allowed to start in sixth grade, but I was younger and I’ve always gone,” Bame said. “My parents have always been involved.”
She said she accompanies a group from her church on monthly visits to Robles Park, a public housing development in Tampa’s inner city. They gather up kids and go to the park, where they grill hamburgers and hot dogs and do activities.
“We try to give them fun and some more hope,” Bame said.
The experience has given Bame something, too.
Before going to Robles Park, she imagined the families would be depressed about their lack of resources, she observed in a journal she keeps. That assumption, she noted, was incorrect.
“They embraced what little they had, simply enjoyed the small things in life and kept a smile on their face most of the time,” she wrote, noting her experiences in Robles Park have reinforced her belief that she was born to be of service to others.
In one sense, serving others is selfish because it is so gratifying, she said. But it’s the kind of self-centeredness that can propel people to do good things.
Bame speaks from personal experience: “Serving others fuels me.”
