Mitch Johnson
She’s always there when her neighbors, or her kids, need her
Mitch Johnson is the type of neighbor everyone wants.
She is the kind of person who brings over cookies just because.
She’s more than willing to invite you into her home to talk.
And when push comes to shove, Johnson always can be counted on.
In fact, Elnora and Stan Smith consider themselves lucky to have Johnson and her family living across the street from them in the Bon Aire Mobile Home Court.
“We feel blessed to have them as neighbors,” Elenora Smith said.
This past year, when the Smith’s were having trouble installing a privacy fence along their drive for climbing vines, Johnson came over to lend a hand.
“I almost cried right then,” Smith said.
To Johnson, it’s just what good neighbors do.
“I just lended a hand,” she said. “I don’t like to sit on the couch.”
In fact, whenever she can she is pitching in.
Johnson was one of the first to volunteer last April in the tornado cleanup efforts.
She works year round to help her seventh-grade daughter, Michaela, raise money and awareness for “Mittens for Cassie,” a mitten collection in honor of Micheala’s fellow classmate, Cassie Huff, who died from carbon monoxide poisoning after a car crash in 2003.
Last year, Johnson’s efforts paid off in the form of more than 1,000 mittens.
“It is an ongoing thing for us,” Johnson said. “We knock on doors, go to businesses, do lemonade and bake sales.”
— Deanna Truman-Cook
