Anne

Anne, 42, works part-time at Harris Teeter as a bagger. She’s been an employee there since 2000. Her duties include bagging groceries, assisting customers with carrying their groceries, and retrieving shopping carts from the parking lots. I spent about 15 minutes with her here, and she kept busy the entire time. Anne is very disciplined, and it shows in her work. When she finishes bagging at one checkout aisle, she scans the rows of aisles for a cashier that needs a bagger, and walks quickly over. Her job helps keep the checkout system running efficiently.

I actually met her for the first time a few days before this at the Wahoos’ swim practice. She’s a skilled swimmer with very nice form. She transitions each lap with a graceful flip turn, and glides through the water with ease. I ran into her again a few days later while photographing Mike at the boxing club. It was no surprise to see that Anne keeps active with more than one weekly exercise activity. This is a trend that I’m really glad to see: there are so many opportunities for individuals with special needs that they often have weeks packed with three or four different classes, lessons, or jobs.

Side note: I found out that Anne competed as an alpine skier at the World Special Olympics in Japan. You go, girl.