PLAINVIEW—She was 14 and living in a Lubbock shelter on that Saturday.
The woman, who looked to be about 65, showed up to play basketball with the teens gathered there. But there would be many more times LaWana Moore would show up for Tracy Arthur Kachadourian.
Now, Tracy is showing up for other young people as she honors what LaWana did for her through the years.
Life-changing invitation
The woman took time to get to know Tracy and the other teens. Then, before leaving, she offered an invitation that changed that 14-year-old forever.
“I’m going to church tomorrow. Who wants to come?” LaWana asked.
Only Tracy raised her hand.
LaWana promised to pick her up the next morning and take her to McDonald’s before church. Suddenly, other teens wanted to go, too. LaWana had a ready answer: They wanted McDonald’s. She wanted them to know Jesus.
That first ride became years of rides, visits, and letters. LaWana stayed in Tracy’s life through her move to Buckner Children’s Home, her college years at Wayland Baptist University, and years of missionary service in Russia.
“She invested her time in me,” Tracy said. “And she didn’t quit on me either.”
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Now, Tracy has established the LaWana Moore Student Emergency Fund, so students facing unexpected financial hardships can receive help in the name of the woman who helped her.
The fund provides limited, short-term assistance to eligible Wayland’s Plainview campus students when an unforeseen emergency threatens their ability to remain enrolled. Its purpose grew from Tracy’s desire to honor LaWana in a way that reflected how she cared for people: “recognizing an immediate need and doing something about it.”
From start to finish
For a teen waiting in a shelter for a room to become available at Buckner, LaWana’s help began with transportation and a welcome at First Baptist Church in Lubbock.
When Tracy moved to Buckner, LaWana and her husband kept picking her up. Although children from Buckner attended the church’s worship service, LaWana wanted Tracy to participate in the youth activities beforehand. Tracy said the couple made a 45-minute drive to get her there every Sunday.
Through the youth ministry, Tracy publicly professed her faith and was baptized. When LaWana could no longer provide rides, Sunday school teachers Tom and D’Linda Law began picking her up.
But LaWana remained part of Tracy’s life. They shared mission trip experiences. When Tracy went to Wayland, LaWana came to see her compete in the Miss Wayland pageants and attended her graduation. They later discovered LaWana’s daughter had been Tracy’s sixth-grade teacher.
When Tracy moved to Russia to do missionary work, letters from LaWana continued to reach her.
“That’s just the type of person she was,” Tracy recalled.
When LaWana died in 2018, her nephew asked Tracy to speak at the memorial service. She built her tribute around Matthew 5:16, the call to let one’s light shine, so others may see good works and glorify God.
It was what she had seen in LaWana’a life.
About the emergency fund
After LaWana’s death, Tracy initially considered an endowed scholarship in her mentor’s name. As she worked with Wayland, an emergency fund became a more personal fit.
“I was in a shelter,” she said. “That was an emergency need.”
She also remembered the financial demands of her college years. She did not get her first car until her sophomore year at Wayland, and she still remembers the monthly payment: $219. Insurance and gas added to the expense. A major repair could leave a student struggling to cover a cost that could not wait.
The fund helps with urgent transportation needs, emergency medical expenses not covered by insurance, necessary travel following a death or serious illness in the immediate family, and replacement of essential belongings after fire, theft, or natural disaster.
Applicants must be currently enrolled full-time at Wayland’s Plainview campus and be a degree-seeking student living in Wayland housing whose emergency cannot be resolved in time through other reasonably available resources.
Most awards range from $50 to $500. Assistance depends on documented need, available resources, and committee review. The fund does not cover tuition or routine recurring expenses.
Freely received, freely giving
Tracy, who carried the last name of Burkhart during her student years at Wayland, earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and has served on the university’s Alumni Council. She now lives in Colorado, where she owns Arthur Mediation Services and conducts court-ordered and private mediations.
Her own efforts to help young people like LaWana helped her began while she was still a student. Having benefited from Big Brothers Big Sisters as a child, she became a volunteer with the organization while attending Wayland and later volunteered with the same organization in Russia.
She hopes others will help sustain the emergency fund, including those who knew LaWana through First Baptist Church in Lubbock and her work with young people. Tracy is grateful to those who have already given, and she welcomes gifts of any size.
“It could be $5,” she said.
Tracy remembers what LaWana gave her when she was the one facing an emergency.
“Even though she didn’t give me money, she picked me up,” Tracy said.
For information about eligibility and applying for assistance, visit https://www.wbu.edu/student-life/student-services/student-emergency-fund.htm. Those interested in contributing may contact Wayland’s Office of Institutional Advancement.
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