From left are Lance Washington, Team 096 Orlando service office manager, Terique Shelton, and Justin Bellet, Truly Nolen vice president, operations.
Throughout 2016, Truly Nolen held an internal company contest where employees who met certain requirements as part of their daily activities would be entered for a chance to win a grand prize of $15,000. Earlier this year, at the company’s Annual Manager Meeting in Tucson, a raffle ticket belonging to Orlando sales specialist Terique Shelton was drawn. Shelton, 24, knew immediately that the money could help his mother.
“My mother has been sick since I was seven years old, and she eventually lost her ability to walk,” says Shelton, who has been taking care of her since he became an adult. “During her most recent hospital visit, she had a spinal infection. The first thing I did with the money was to buy my mother a Hoyer Lift so she will be able to transfer to a chair or sofa without having to worry about getting bed sores anymore.”
Shelton, whose adoptive father worked in the Orlando service office’s Commercial Division about five years ago and helped him get an interview for his current position, will now have the opportunity to do something he had to temporarily pause a few years ago while taking care of his mother: finish his college degree. “I was less than a year from graduating from Full Sail University with a degree in film studies, which is a true passion of mine,” says Shelton.
With the remaining money, Shelton plans to make some investments. “My goal has always been to be 100 percent out of debt in my early 20s, and these winnings will certainly help me in that regard,” he says.
Shelton says his ultimate goal is to take his film talent and use it on behalf of the company. “I would love to handle videography and video editing on the East Coast,” says Shelton, whose recent video collaboration with another co-worker called “I’ll Kill Bugs For You” received more than 30,000 views in April. “I’m hopeful this video will be the first of many opportunities.”
“From donating his time at a local children’s Hospital in Orlando for pumpkin decorating at Halloween to what he does for his mother on a regular basis, Terique is one of the kindest, most generous people I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with,” says Justin Bellet, vice president of operations, who works in the same building as Shelton. “I was probably as happy as he was when his ticket number was selected at our Manager Meeting, because I know how much his mother means to him.”
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