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Sheletta Brundidge honored on USA TODAY's 'Women of the Year' list

The Cottage Grove mother of four is a community service-driven author, activist and entrepreneur.

COTTAGE GROVE, Minn. — USA TODAY released its list of Women of the Year from every state, and this year's Minnesota honoree is Sheletta Brundidge!

USA TODAY launched this last year to honor exceptional women who make their communities better.

The mother of four does community service work like making sure people have a meal for Thanksgiving, sending out carbon monoxide detectors to homes, helping to create vaccine clinics in underserved communities, uplifting Black-owned media, or standing up against racial injustice.

She says while this is an individual award, it's truly a group effort of many women in Minnesota.

"To be able to represent all of those women, you know, I have a piece of each one of those women inside of me as I do the work that I do, as I leave my family behind to fight for the rights of other families, to feed other families, to care for other families and so to use my voice to create change it is an honor God has given me a gift and a platform," Brundidge said.

Brundidge said when she got the email from USA Today a week ago, she thought it was spam. She was nominated by people she met through her broadcasting career. 

"There's some folks who know the real you back when your credit was bad and you know back when you and your husband weren't getting along and the real you who stays in pajamas all day and might not brush your teeth for two or three days. And to have those people who know the real me nominate me for the work that I do in the community it just, I was just overwhelmed," Brundidge said.

You can find the full list of other amazing women around the country here.

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