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A Modern Day Heroine... April 25th, 2005 Perhaps it's her 17 years of unselfish service to the hungry that maintains her youth. Or perhaps it was the open heart surgery 10 years ago that gave her a new lease on life. But whatever it is, 88 year-old Betty Villaume is a heroine in anyone's book. Today, Betty puts in her last day of volunteer work at The Cooperative Feeding Program's Community Kitchen in Fort Lauderdale after having served literally hundreds of thousands of meals to homeless people from 8am to 11am every Tuesday morning for almost two decades.  "God has been good to me and I wanted to give something back", the sprightly senior responds as she balances a slice of chocolate cake on a spatula, deftly laying it in the top right corner of the serving tray. "I try to always see the best side of life. We all have to get active and alleviate the problems in our communities". Betty responds quickly to the moving line of four hundred of Florida's forgotten and hungry people who file into The Cooperative Feeding Program every morning, seven days a week, for their only hot meal of the day. Snow haired Betty breaks the stereotype of an octogenarian as she energetically dispenses hot food for the stomach and an exuberant smile to feed the souls of the excluded hungry who find a refuge in this welcoming agency. "I'm like a bad penny that bounces back", Betty responds when asked about her open heart surgery, avoiding any pondering on the negative. "If you don't participate and help to alleviate the problem then nothing will change". And at the end of her shift her friends and co-volunteers showered Betty with hugs and best wishes as one of the seemingly permanent fixtures of The Cooperative Feeding Program folds up her apron to leave. More than a few tears were shed as Betty departs her Wilton Manors home and leaves this week for the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park where she moves into a retirement community close to her family. "Now I have to find some volunteer work there", she chuckles. "I enjoy life and take it as it comes". South Florida's loss is Kansas City's gain. For more information, please contact Bruce Harris at The Cooperative Feeding Program (954) 792-2328 or Bruce@FeedingBroward.org Or Betty Villaume through April 27th, 2005 at (954) 565-8861 
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