Through what could arguably be the most difficult thing a parent could endure, Beth Holloway went from “victim to victor” by discovering hope and positivity, she said Thursday night during the Sixth Annual Boys & Girls Club Steak and Burger Dinner.
In 2005, when her daughter Natalee disappeared during a senior trip to Aruba, not knowing where her daughter was and whether she was alive and well was the most devastating thing to ever happen to Beth Holloway.
Faith in God and perseverance has helped her deal with the emotional turmoil, and through her ordeal, she now helps families of missing persons as well as helps teach young people about personal safety.
Holloway was inspirational Thursday night as the featured speaker during the event hosted by the Boys and Girls Club of Bulloch County.
The annual dinner is held to show appreciation for community support and allow Boys & Girls Club members to enjoy a social dinner with members of the community.
Club Director Mike Backus and board president Russell Rosengart welcomed the crowd, and Dr. Bill Perry gave the invocation before the meal at Statesboro’s First Baptist Church.
“I have followed her story and admired her for years,” he said of Holloway. In speaking of her emotionally draining ordeal, he said “Answers don’t heal broken hearts. God loves her and knows what she is going through. When you take your eyes off yourself and put them on others, healing is taking place. Beth has done that.”
Holloway gave a powerful speech, recounting the horrors that filled the days after Natalee’s disappearance. She showed a conglomeration of news reports and interviews, and talked about how suspect Joran Van Der Sloot gave 22 different accounts of what may have happened to her daughter.
The police in Aruba asked her to not disturb their crack houses and prostitutes and were unbelievably less than helpful, she said.
She spoke of how, after four days of no sleep, no food, no showers, she felt nothing but numbness over Natalee’s disappearance until she caught a taxi to a church in Aruba.
Stumbling to her knees, she crawled from cross to cross near the church, praying and starting to feel the raw pain of emotion as she did so.
“I felt the need to pray louder and pray harder,” she said.
Then, at the fifth cross, “a complete peace blanketed me, and from that instant, I knew Natalee was with God.”
Although Beth Holloway never gave up trying to find out what happened to her daughter, she has also never given up trying to make the tragic loss produce something positive.
Her life’s mission is now to teach people about personal safety and tour the country giving inspirational speeches to groups such as the Boys & Girls Club.
She knows she may never know what actually happened to Natalee. She believes her daughter was given a date rape drug and died from a possible seizure, after which a frightened Van Der Sloot dumped her body into the ocean.
Van Der Sloot is in prison now for killing another young lady, and was indicted in Alabama on wire fraud charges because he claimed he had Natalee’s remains and offered to sell them to her mother. Natalee Holloway’s remains have never been found.
As she recovered from the ordeal, Holloway said she asked herself “What can I teach others from our tragic loss?” She came up with the idea of forming Mayday 360 and the Natalee Holloway Resource Center to help others who have suffered and are suffering the same misery she did.
Her mission is to educate young people on personal safety choices.
“Natalee never saw this coming,” she said. “She was blindsided. In spite of being “savvy, she was too confident, felt she was safe, let her guard down and vanished.”
Although Holloway’s words were strong as she spoke, tinges of pain and anger bled through as she pleaded to the audience to take every safety precaution possible.
The message was driven home for some. Jasmine Perkins, 15, and Aaliyah Carter, 14, both members of the Boys and Girls Club, said Holloway’s speech made them think about personal choices.
“It made me think about being safe and always telling people where I am going, go with other people,” Perkins said.
Carter agreed.”What she said made me think.”
Many Boys and Girls Club students said they enjoyed the presentation and also expressed appreciation for the opportunities they find at the club.
“The Boys & Girls Club is my second home,” said Jarvius Ware, 17. “It’s a better, safer environment and I am just glad I have a chance to go there.”
Backus said 99 percent of the club members graduate to the next grade in school, and 55 percent of the members are on their school’s honor roll.
Holli Deal Bragg may be reached at (912) 489-9414.