Heidi Herr, Owner of Bird on a Wire Espresso, Jill Gagliardo who worked with Queen in her early days, Queen Underwood, and organizer Regina Brennan.
Seattle Olympian Queen Underwood, who overcame numerous obstacles in her personal life to achieve her dream of competing in the Olympics, paid a visit to Bird on a Wire Espresso on Thursday, July 25 in a fundraising effort to help her meet expenses. Underwood was the first woman in history to represent the USA in an Olympic boxing match.
Organized by West Seattleite Regina Brennan the funds raised will help Underwood pay for her training, and nutrition needs. Since she's an amateur and plans on competing in the 2016 Olympics it's a long road ahead for her.
Brennan said, "I was inspired by her story and I started my first boxing lesson last night."
While Underwood did not win the gold, she said her experience was priceless.
"Leading up to London it was very nerve wracking due to all the challenges I faced outside the ring. There was a lot of attention drawn to it being a favorite going into London. I had this tremendous weight on my shoulders and when I got there the feeling was just overwhelming. It really was history in the making. I gave it my best and got there. The opening ceremony walking out with everybody from all over the world was just an amazing feeling."
She faced a hard decision whether or not to turn pro following London or stay amateur and go to the Olympics in Rio De Janeiro in 2016. "I competed earlier this year at the nationals and I won that, then I went internationally and got the gold medal so that really inspired me to continue to go. My logo is Can't Stop Won't Stop so I won't stop till I feel I've completed my successful dream."
She has a fight this August in San Diego and she will be traveling with Team USA. All aspects of training require funding. She does plan on turning pro following the 2016 Olympics.
Underwood will also be running in the Seafair Torchlight Parade Run this Saturday at 6:30pm in Downtown Seattle! Ever dreamed about running alongside an Olympic athlete, down a parade route lined with 150,000 fans dressed as a Pirate? Here's your chance! www.seafair.com/torchlightrun
You can support her career on Facebook HERE: https://www.facebook.com/TheQueenoftheRing
And you can help fund her dream through GoFundMe here: http://www.gofundme.com/3al4n8