CityView Magazine

22 November 2021 FA SCI NAT I NG FAYETT EVILLE PJ Smith is pictured with friends and fellow church members Wanda Narcisse and Bonnie Coleman. tell Ms. PJ it's all been possible because of her influence, which gives her great joy, but she takes no credit, saying such transformation is much bigger than her. She credits God. Her acts of kindness also include offering gis of clothing that she keeps stored in a back office. She has been known, too, to help others with transportation and finding employment. She has even put the homeless to work in her own business. "If there was ever an individual who needed to be recognized for her contribution to the community, PJ should lead the pack," says Carol Quigg, a longtime Fayetteville volunteer and change-maker who nominated PJ Smith for CityView Magazine's second annual Impact Awards. "She is one of the most remarkable people I have ever met!" At her PJ Thai Cuisine the woman known as "Ms. PJ" or "Mom" cooks for everyone from high- powered attorneys and business leaders to people who are without homes, hope or happiness. She offers encouraging words with no judgment. GREATER FAYETTEVILLE UNITED Amplify your gift by donating on Giving Tuesday from November 23 – December 1 through Cumberland Community Foundation 910-537-0910 • www.greaterfayunited.org Enhancing the quality of life for all utilizing education, cooperation, and empowerment. It's been a long journey from Ms. PJ's native ailand to America, from orphan to widow and breast cancer survivor. She rarely shares her personal story, preferring to listen to who is in front of her. She never knew her parents and was given a birth date of Aug. 2, 1951, in an orphanage just outside of Bangkok. At 9, she was adopted into a family that made her cook and clean to earn her keep. She tells of abuse and was given very little to eat. She was still a teenager when she came to the United States in 1970 from her native ailand with her first husband, an American soldier. He kept her in a small apartment in Hackensack, New Jersey. "He wanted me to cook and clean," she says. But she wanted more. She taught herself how to speak English by watching "Sesame Street"

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