Boring huh? Wonder why I chose Topics? Thought not... :) Just kidding. I chose the title because as I was trying to determine the focus of this blog my mind went in many directions and so many things about Ballard kept coming to the forefront of my mind. I couldn't just whittle it down to one composed specific topic...so I pluraled it. :) In all seriousness, on any given day, there are so many things happening at Ballard that I wish I could share but haven't figured out a way to adequately communicate everything. I know I spend a lot of time talking about how grateful I am and how important this work is to me and I truly mean that, but there are reasons why Ballard is what it is and why we do what we do.
First Topic - Santa Chef. I received the sweetest email from my favorite "Santa Chef" about the work that his crew of elves do each year for the family that they adopt. He explained to me how it goes beyond just his work fixing a meal, that it really is about the Free State staff, the regular customers and all of those that come together to provide the entire adopted family with a plethora of Holiday items, clothing, toys, household items and so forth. He is completely right, I only get to experience being Santa that day for the food delivery ....but I do remember, I remember our staff talking about what an amazing job that the Free State Brewery group had done for their family, I remember being in the home and seeing the mountain of gifts piled around the tree.....I got so caught up in the moment that I forgot about the prior moments....I failed to realize that yes, this mother was overwhelmed by the food, but she had already been overwhelmed with the generosity of gifts and the outpouring of love that these wonderful people had provided for her...so, I have to say a huge thank you to the kind and loving staff and regular customers of Free State Brewery, you have no idea what a difference that you made in the lives of others this holiday season. The family appreciated absolutely everything that you did for them. They were overwhelmed with emotion and deep gratitude and I can say with a great deal of certainty, because I saw it in her eyes and I heard it in her voice....you have made such a difference that this family, at some point in time when they get back on their feet, will pay it forward....because of what you did and the impact that you made upon them....that is the ultimate Holiday blessing. Thank you....very special "Santa Chef" and elves. I'm ready for next year. :)
Petey Cerf Center for Children & Families: This week was a big week for us, we finally got the approval from the City necessary to move forward with our "little" project. Thank you City Commissioners. I have to say, I do not really understand all of these processes and I am trying to learn all of the steps as it is fascinating to me but boy is it all over my head. I try and fake like I get it, but it becomes apparent pretty quickly....I've decided it is just in my own best interest to leave it to the professionals, quit faking understanding and ask really dumb questions anyway....I'm really good at that. ;)
What I really want to get at with this post in regard to our Cerf project is the value add behind this project to the community of Lawrence and the investment to this city that this property will be - notice I said "to" this city, not "by" this city. I say this because I consistently get questions about why we - a non profit (keep in mind, we are a non profit, not a charity) would go to such lengths to build a facility like this for "our" children. The foremost question that I get is wow, that's pretty extravagant, are you sure you want to do that? Well, let me try and explain the rationale behind this. First of all, "our" children or anyone elses children deserve to have facilities that are amazing learning environments, doesn't matter what economic strata they come from, they deserve to have a great place to be a child and learn through exploration. So that is one reason. The second reason is because we believe that it will be easier to fund a facility that has never been tried before, I know that sounds counter-intuitive, but there are foundations that look for projects that are not only good for children, particularly low income children, but that are cutting edge projects. So why not cutting edge....in Lawrence, Kansas....for low income children....by Ballard Community Services?
That is not the only reason why I have dedicated the past 11 years to this project. I have done so because of my love for Ballard. You might say, what? What are you talking about, how does that correlate? Well it's like this. Every good leader knows that there will come a time when it will be their time to turn over the reigns to someone new. Well, when you love something as much as I love Ballard, that's a bit hard to think about, but I have to and the one thing that I want to ensure more than anything is that this magical place will continue. That there will be funding streams that will provide an avenue for the next Leadership of Ballard to take over without worrying about what type of fundraising to do in the next year. It is about stability, it is about meeting a need, it is about diversification and this project provides all of that.
Monday night I was told that it takes someone "like me" to get a facility like this built, someone with a dream to see it through and be willing to do what it takes to turn it into reality. Translation? Someone that is stubborn enough to keep plowing forward in light of obstacles like floods and insurance issues and any number of other things we have encountered with this project. Yes, I am that incredibly stubborn person that just will not give up, that is true. Ask my current Board Chair. :) I also firmly believe that there will be that one person, somewhere that gets it and understands why it is a very good thing and why it can be a building that can lead the way for other non profit early education programs and why Ballard is the perfect fit to see this through. We have an amazing team of architects and a construction manager, all of whom are excited to get this going and are waiting on me to raise the money. We had a really good start to that this past December. Thank you to all of our donors who helped us get those tax credits out the door. It truly made a very big difference and started us on our way.
Last But Not Least -Random Thoughts: As I was driving home from visiting with mom last night I thought about how to end this post. I thought yet again about the endless topics that have come and gone through my thoughts this past week and all that we encountered and there truly is no way to cohesively put it all together, it is just random happenings that make an impact. Such as:
Two year olds: how lucky am I that in any given point in the day I can walk by a room filled with the most beautiful children and just take a moment to stop and watch? Watch them playing with a tub filled with snow...seeing their wonder at watching it melt...how long has it been since I felt that way?
New Year/New Board/First Meeting: How does one describe the trepidation of meeting with new board members for the first time and knowing that you have an opportunity to engage the best and brightest minds to further the mission of your organization? Each year I get to do that and watch as they help us make decisions that affect thousands of people and children. What an amazing experience.
Reflection: Each January I get to compile numbers for the past year and not only am I geeky enough to check trends and statistics, but I also get to finally see the number of people that we have helped...this little organization in Lawrence, Kansas helped 33,359 people and provided more than 1.7 million services in 2010, mostly due to donated funds...what a humbling feeling that is. In addition to that, each year we set a fund-raising goal, (my board thinks that I am crazy to ask for it to be set consistently higher than the year before :) I LOVE a challenge! ) In 2010, we doubled what we did last year....man do I love the sound of that...my personal best, I cannot ask for more than that.
And....yesterday, I posted on Twitter (good grief cannot even believe that I Tweet - thank you much younger staff) and I said #wishididntwearmyheartonmysleeve. Well, I received a lot of comments about that post and in all honesty, I posted that Tweet for many reasons. I was sitting in a dining room filled with people that I have come to love next to the love of my life, my mom. As I sat there watching them eat, I thought about who was missing, mom's friend, Norman, and how much I missed him and how many more we would say goodbye to because this facility is really about reaching the end of life...my heart hurt with the prospect. I thought about the children and families that we serve and those that we cannot serve, I thought about the children that go home to a less than warm home in these chilling temperatures and my heart hurt. I thought about change and how as in every organization change occurs and people move on and that not everyone is going to have the passion for what we do even though they are very good at it. It made my heart hurt having just had to say goodbye to a wonderful staff member. I thought about my own personal life and the changes that I know I must make but do not want to. I thought about how I wish that there was a way for people to step back when dealing with others and look at their heart and realize what an amazing opportunity that they are given to get to know and be with someone that could potentially be the gift they never dreamed was coming. It hurts my heart to think that in this world where we have come to expect rapid change we do not take the time to see every person as the gift that they could potentially be to us and we are forced to say goodbye.....that perhaps makes my heart hurt the most. Thank you mom for instilling in me the gift of seeing beyond a persons pain, grief, past hurt and the baggage they carry with them so that I wish to become like you; a person who truly only wishes to be a gift to others. love you mom....
Dianne, again you have written words from your heart. It is impossible to think of anyone that loves their work more than you. I honestly believe you have taken to heart John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends". You lay your life down for your family, your friends and anyone that might need help. Dianne, I honestly believe, you hang your halo on the bedpost every night so you can put it on first thing the next morning.
Posted by: Brad Vermaas | 01/15/2011 at 07:32 AM