Sarah Malone, Neighbor

Inspired by her son DJango Brevard, who was killed in a tragic motorcycle accident in September 2010, <b>Sarah Malone</b> fulfilled her dream of running her own health store in his honor, DJango’s Organics.  Her professional and personal background in nutrition and healthy living, stemmed from years of experience, prepared her for this business venture.

<b>Malone</b> lived in Georgia on a red clay dirt road until she was five years old. Her family then moved to Newark, New Jersey, where she grew up with an older sister and four younger brothers. Her grandmother and mother cured everything from head colds to colon cleansing using foods and herbs including onions soaked in water and castor oil. She took her dose of cod liver oil every morning and if she felt under the weather, chicken soup was made to comfort her.

In the 70s, she lived in California, “where there was a health food store on every corner,” says <b>Malone</b>. She worked for American Airlines for eleven years, which allowed her to travel and move around. For nearly forty years, her father lived in East Hampton, New York where Malone would visit from the mid-90s forward, before he moved to Florida. “I was always visiting in the winter to stay away from the chaos that is here in the summer,” said <b>Malone</b>. After her father passed away, she took a vacation to the East End one July and never left. Always a part of a large family, she had ten children of her own who now voluntarily help out DJango’s Organics.

 For the past 20 years, <b>Malone</b> has worked with Natures Sunshine, a brand of herbal, vitamin, mineral and nutritional supplements, selling the products online and now, in DJango’s Organics. When she first moved to the East End of Long Island, she lived in Montauk and worked as a receptionist at Gurney’s Inn Resort &amp; Spa. From 2004 to 2005, she managed Second Nature in Southampton. After that, she used her familiarity with the hospitality industry in her job at Dune Management managing East Hampton House Resort. She then enjoyed working as a clerk at Provisions, a local health store in Sag Harbor.

 Meanwhile, DJango, full of passion and persistence, envisioned his mother doing something more and encouraged her to open her own store.  She agreed with him but decided to bide her time to learn more about the business side.  Four months after his death, <b>Malone</b> and her fiancé, Gerald Desmond saw an opportunity for retail space and striving to make DJango proud, founded DJango’s<b> </b>Organics in March 2011.

 As general manager, <b>Malone</b> believes it is important to continue her education in nutrition through reading and studying trends. She hopes to teach others how to sustain a better quality of life with natural and organic nutrition knowledge and is currently enrolled in the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, a health coach training program, to help her achieve this goal. “One of the main objectives of DJango’s Organics is to educate,” states <b>Malone</b>.