October 20, 2022
On the Wings of Eagles – Mandelyn McKinley Huiras Joins MSF
Spirit of Bald Eagle –
The eagle rides on the winds of change, telling us it’s time to gather
all of our courage, strength, patience and wisdom, to prepare for
life changes and transformation.
by Sheryl Wilde
She noticed the majestic bald eagle sitting on the wire high above her.
She and her father had walked this same path together, down by the river, every day for the past twelve days. She’d never seen an eagle on the path before. Not one. But today, each time she looked up, the eagle was there. Watching her. Following her.
She got chills as she looked up yet again and the eagle landed just above her. It seemed like he was shaking his head at her.
“God! Why is he following me?” She wondered if it was a message from heaven or Spirit.
Just one short hour later, she knew it was.
Mandelyn (Mandy) McKinley Huiras is the new Director of Development for Mountain Shadows Foundation. And, on that morning, as the bald eagle overshadowed her, Mandy’s husband, Jim, who had had a horrible fall and suffered from traumatic brain injury, lay in a hospital bed.
“Jim had been asleep for twelve days after he fell. The doctors said he would never wake up,” recalls Mandy. “They said even if we did keep him alive, he would never have any type of brain function again. He wouldn’t even be able to swallow. He would require full-time care.”
And, on that twelfth day, as she and her father walked by the river, with the eagle watching silently from above, the other family members were visiting Jim for the last time. His feeding tube had been removed. All that remained was to remove his ventilator tube. Mandy, and the whole family, had made the heart-wrenching decision to end Jim’s life.
But just as the last two family members were walking out of the hospital room, after having said their final goodbyes to Jim – one hour after the bald eagle first landed above Mandy – Jim woke and took out the ventilator tube himself!
“We had Do Not Re-intubate and Do Not Resuscitate orders in place,” says Mandy. “They had Jim’s hands wrapped, like they wrap the boxer’s hands before a fight. They wrap patients’ hands when they’re put on a ventilator, so they can’t pull out the tubes. Jim still had those wrappings on – and he still did it! He took out the ventilator tubes by himself.
“He’s a miracle. It’s been nearly two years now and he’s at 85% – 90% of normal functioning. He’s a functioning member of our family. He drives. He takes our daughter to school. He participates in social functions. He’s working fulltime again. It’s just amazing.”
Jim’s accident brought intellectual disabilities into the forefront of Mandy’s mind. “If Jim wasn’t a miracle, if the doctors had been right, he could have been one of the individuals that lives on the Mountain Shadows campus.”
When Jim awoke from his slumber, it was time for Mandy to summon all of her courage, strength, patience and wisdom.
“Taking care of Jim after his accident was a huge task and it’s not like there’s a handbook for it. I succeeded because I was too stubborn to fail. I advocated for him. I was results-driven. The result was keeping him alive. The result is that he’s a functional person again.”
As the bald eagle had followed Mandy on the river path, so too did yet another tragedy follow her not long thereafter. Her father, Dick McKinley, was diagnosed with category four glioblastoma brain cancer.
“My dad gave me three things,” Mandy says. “He gave me the confidence to always know my self-worth, the strength to chase my dreams, and the ability to know how deeply he loved me. This is what I hope to pass on to our daughter, McKinley Marie Huiras.”
Mandy believes some of the same skills she used in caring for Jim, combined with the attributes passed down from her father, will help to drive her success at MSF. She prides herself on her results-driven pursuit of excellence in her career.
“I’ve spent 20 years in collegiate development in the athletic department, the fundraising arm for student athletes. I’m talented in building relationships. While raising money for athletes may seem less significant when we begin talking about raising funds for Mountain Shadows residents, the fundraising skills are the same.”
As Senior Associate Athletic Director, Development, at San Diego State University Athletics, Mandy served as Senior leadership for SDSU’s 1st ever fundraising campaign with goals of $800 million for the University and $100 million for athletics. A few of her accomplishments:
Secured gifts of $2 million for the renovation and expansion of Don Coryell Football Locker Room and $10 million in new gifts from a challenge gift.
Increased Director Cabinet members from 48 to 70 benefactors, giving at least $30,000 for scholarships annually.
Led teams that quadrupled scholarship giving from $2 million to over $6.6 million; increased donor base from 2,500 to 5,000 scholarship donors; helped secure over $30 million planned gifts and endowments in support of athletics for the University.
As Assistant Athletic Director, Director of the Aztec Club, Mandy managed a volunteer Board of 52 Directors, spearheading an increase in overall giving from $2.1 million to over $5 million.
Prior to her work at SDSU, Mandy held various positions at the University of North Texas. As Associate Athletic Director, Annual Fund and Major Gifts, she established relationships with potential capital campaign donors for a $70 million stadium project.
“My goal as Director of Development for MSF is to build the fundraising arm of the Foundation. I hope to build a model where, when people are budgeting for philanthropic giving, Mountain Shadows is first on their mind. The goal is not only one-time giving, but giving in perpetuity.”
Mandy holds a Master’s Degree in Sports Management from the University of Southern Mississippi.
It has been said that when a bald eagle flies into your life,
he bestows upon you the power to manifest your deepest desires.
It is our hope the Spirit of Bald Eagle follows Mandy still – and upon his wings may Mandy and the Mountain Shadows Foundation soar.