Pulido finds her calling as community, church volunteer
Advocate of the month is humble about fast-paced lifestyle
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HOW TO NOMINATE SOMEONEIf you know of someone who gives of his or herself to help others, nominate him for Advocate of the Month.
Send the person's name, what qualifies him for the honor along with their contact information to ...
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HOW TO NOMINATE SOMEONEIf you know of someone who gives of his or herself to help others, nominate him for Advocate of the Month.
Send the person's name, what qualifies him for the honor along with their contact information to newsroom@vicad.com, in subject line write Advocate of Month Nominee, by fax to 361-574-1220; by mail to P.O. Box 1518 Victoria 77902; or hand deliver to 311 E. Constitution St.
In approaching Maria Pulido for the first interview, her character was already clear.
"December," she questioned over her Blackberry as she flipped through her planner.
She wrote something down - it was set in stone.
Pulido, who works for the Child Study Clinic, is also involved in several church organizations at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church /Santisima Trinidad, wedding and quinceañera planning and, of course, her 15-year-old son David Ray.
It's a colorful life.
So colorful, in fact, that she has to color-coordinate it in three solid highlight colors.
Yellow is church, green is work and blue is David Ray.
Despite how hectic the lifestyle may seem to others, Pulido said she would not have it any other way.
"I get paid with blessings," she said as she sat on a picnic table at the duck pond in Riverside Park. "I live to do that."
As if being involved in ACTS, the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, lectoring and a rosary support group isn't enough, Pulido continues to plan weddings and quinceañeras on the weekends.
She helps make sure the church is ready by turning on the air conditioning, setting up the unity candles and just making sure she helps answer any questions to ease the nerves of the people.
Pulido admits to at times becoming somewhat overwhelmed.
"I get out of some stuff and then I get in other stuff," Pulido said of her never-ending cycle.
Some of her favorite community involvments include the wedding and quinceañera planning, keeping up with an e-mail prayer group and being involved in the RCIA, which introduces people into the Catholic faith.
"You get to see the conversion," Pulido said with enthusiasm. "I feel like mother hen. I'm walking with Him on their journey."
Her e-mail prayer groups started off as a small way to conveniently spread prayer requests, but soon exploded into something larger.
"I have an e-mail base of 600," she said.
The Rev. Stan DeBoe has known Pulido for two years and wasn't surprised her volunteerism to the community was noticed, he said.
"She is a very giving person," he said in a phone interview. "With all of that going on, she still keeps her family going."
She has helped the church reach out to the community by helping out with different programs and holiday drives throughout the year, he added.
"For a lot of the things she just stays in the background," he said. "She'll quietly volunteer. She's not looking for the titles or the honors and sometimes they come to her."
Her son is always on the go with her, so he knows exactly how busy she is, he said.
"I'm always with her," he said. "It's basically like kind of an experience, I guess you can say. It's just the two of us, you know."
His mother is a people person and enjoys communicating and interacting with the people she's involved with, he added.
"I'm very blessed to have the son I have," Pulido said.
Her son is typically good about helping her out when she needs it, she added.
"He's an organizer. I've created a monster," she said. "He has the same passion for serving."
Watching over her son isn't enough, though.
Pulido is also involved in a surrogate parent program.
Not to actually bear a child, but to make sure they are on the right track educationally, she said.
That adds to her plate five more kids.
Recently, Pulido has slowly began to wean herself off the planner to her Blackberry.
She still can't let it go. She had already gone to buy a 2010 planner.
"If I break or lose my Blackberry, my life is over as I know it, and that may be a good thing," she said jokingly.
