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“You can see the vitiligo from a distance.
If you’re sitting in the front or the back,
if you’re young or old, you can see his
courage. ‘If he can stand before all of PEPPLER
these people, what can I do?’ He’s really
doing amazing things. You know how
much vitiligo robbed him of emotional
security. He didn’t want to look at people FUNER AL HOME
[as a child] because they had questions,
but he still did, too.”
McDaniel recently spoke with a Celebrating 50 Years of Helping our
group of fifth graders about growing
up with vitiligo. They had a lot of ques- Community Here in Bordentown
tions he said—they wanted to touch
his skin, they wanted to know if he
was muddy or if he had been burned.
But they listened as he explained
what vitiligo was and how he over-
came intense anger. And many of them
approached him to talk about their
own insecurities.
Despite how far he’s come, McDaniel
says he wouldn’t change anything about
his own childhood. The only thing he
would tell the younger version of him-
self is to “just keep going.” What he went
through as a kid made him who he his
Curtis McDaniel was recently today, he said. That’s what he tries to
featured on MTV’s “True Life” impress on children with vitiligo when
in an episode about redefining they ask him for advice.
beauty standards. (Photo by “I don’t want them to find the confi-
Suzette J. Lucas.) dence in their skin alone,” he said. “I
want them to find confidence in who
they are. I do talk about the skin, but I
voice—went from being reticent to get talk more about who they are as a per- (609) 259-7391 • 114 South Main Street, Allentown, NJ 08501
onstage to preaching his own sermons, son, rather than what they look like. (609) 298-1333 • 122 Crosswicks Street, Bordentown, NJ 08505
running his own youth groups and head- People are always going to have nega- www.pepplerfh.com
ing up the youth praise team at The tive comments. You can’t shut people up.
Room Church. The transition, Hudson You can stop a bully, but there might be Edgar N. Peppler Jr. Mgr/Lic # 3926, Karen E. Peppler Mgr/Lic # 4584, E. Ross Peppler Lic # 4966
says, has been a pleasure to witness. another one that comes. As long as you
“It’s encouragement,” Hudson said. know who you are, you’ll be okay.”

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ERA Central broker associate Shirley Littleford (left) awarded 609-758-7574
Bordentown Regional High School student Lianna Diaz with the ERA C R, NJ
Central Realty EDGE Scholarship in June. Diaz was one of five area .

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students to receive the award.
August 2017 | Bordentown Current7