“God never closes a window without opening another! Sounds cliché, but true for Unity.

“Unity was born from the loss of a colleague and friend who shared many years and laughs with us. Upon arriving at work on a mid-fall day our hearts ached when we learned the loss of one amongst us: Daphne Moore Berry. She succumbed to death via a massive heart attack. She left us wondering and gasping for the very air we breathe.

“Daphne, a graduate of J.H. Rose High School and North Carolina Central University, was the Student Management Coordinator at Rose for a number of years before becoming student management coordinator at South Central High School in 2003. Her father, the Rev. Farney M. Moore Jr., was a Pitt County educator and a pillar in the community of Greenville. Her parents were avid believers in education. They passed that belief on to Daphne, who passed that on to children who were in student management.

“She left work on one Friday, a little stressed, went to Parker’s Barbecue, and, when she returned home, had a massive heart attack. Her untimely death grabbed the attention of colleagues at South Central High School and made us pay attention to ourselves as women at work and stress.

“She placed a challenge on our hearts to do better in the workplace. In addition, she created a desire in us to fulfill a commitment to improve the life of some young student. As a result Unity was born. Daphne was our unifying voice! Via her death we blended our souls to share in her commitment to better educate, empower, and enthusiastically serve our community.

“Our hearts ached because she left a young daughter, Mia, who was just beginning her professional career. We asked the question, ‘God how could you do this? How could you do this to us and to Mia, her daughter?’ We galvanized and provided dinner for her family. Just like a good ole football team, we embraced Mia and our vision of keeping Daphne’s flame alive!

“We decided to ‘chew the fat’ each month to come up with a strategic plan to help each other have a healthy heart at work and at play since we, as women, are most affected by heart and stroke disease. We implemented the following: raise awareness about heart and stroke; raise funds to provide a scholarship to a deserving student who had an average of 3.0 and wanted to attend East Carolina University or Pitt Community College; attend a Go Red event as a group; and sponsor a gala to raise scholarship funds.

“In December 2010, we held our first Winter White Affair to raise scholarship funds. We were beside ourselves because we had done what Daphne would have been so proud of! Our first scholarship recipient was Sarah Kuntz. We presented our award to her at the South Central High School Awards Day Ceremony in June of 2011!

“As a result of Daphne’s death we have breathed a sigh of relief. We now have two children whom we have embraced in her honor — her daughter, Mia, and our first scholarship recipient. They both are very near and dear to our hearts as we forge ahead to close the gap between loss and life!

“We held our second fundraiser on Feb. 11 at the Warehouse in Winterville, to keep Daphne’s memory alive through scholarships to local students.”

Charetta Walls teaches English and Speech at South Central High School.