Newsmakers 2017: Viney Mosley

Viney Mosley is testament to the ability to channel heartache. Not one to wallow, she determinedly mines with a bubbly demeanor, sifting for positives and silver linings that might evoke change or lift spirits. Through personality, friendships, connections and persistence, she's adept at raising funds, health awareness to prevent disease and hope for cures.

When her mother died of late-detected breast cancer at the age of 48, she volunteered for the American Cancer Society, later becoming area director for 10 counties. She sought to provide low-cost mammography to women, and screenings of all sorts in Southeast Missouri. She pined for the abolishment of smoking in public settings. She ultimately became director of planned giving -- wills, trusts -- for the Missouri division of the ACS.

She later threw herself behind a $40 million bond issue for the new Cape Girardeau Public Library, serving as the chairman of the committee to successfully rally voters at the polls.

In 2012, her family was dealt the most devastating of losses. Levi, her 3-year-old grandson, died without warning. "He took a nap and just didn't wake up," Mosley said.

In the following days, she learned about the phenomenon that strikes children 12 months old to age 5, and about an organization, Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC), that provides emotional support for grieving families as well as assists with research.

LAURA SIMON ~ lsimon@semissourian.com Viney Mosley

Mosley suggested starting a memorial fund to build a playground in Levi's memory. Levi's Children's Charity (LLC) was founded in 2013 and ultimately partnered with Cape Girardeau County in the construction of Levi's Adventure Trail in Cape County Park South.

"That's how we dealt with that grief, was to go through fundraising and try to do something positive," Mosley said. "It actually forced us to get out in public."

And that's where Mosley shines bright. Block parties, social events with silent auctions, fundraisers by restaurants and five-figure donations by the Noon Optimist Club and Cape West Rotary. A flood of donations of less than $100 provided the bulk.

Levi's Children's Charity already has donated more than $200,000 to the playground project, and the county has obtained $150,000 in state grants.

Hopes are for the playground to open in late September or mid-October.

LAURA SIMON ~ lsimon@semissourian.com Viney Mosley

"Levi's Adventure Trail is probably the most important community project I've ever been involved in, because it's an example of how communities can come together and create something wonderful," Mosley said.