Making A Difference

Aside from my last posting summarizing the gala, I realized that not much has been mentioned about Extra Hands for ALS in a while.  We have developed an incredible organization over the past year that now services people across the metro Denver area as well as a satellite group in Steamboat Springs. We have 18 families, 17 mentors and 27 students registered for full or project only services.  Our student volunteers, mentors and families with ALS are making a huge difference in each others lives as well as others that have had the pleasure of their company.  Thank you all so much for what you all are doing for ALS.

I want to give an example of the kind of individuals we have had the honor of getting to know.  In the last posting, I talked about three very extraordinary individuals from Cherry Creek High School (CCHS): Aly, Cynden and Addie.  I’d like to get a little more specific about their involvement with and the affect they have had on Extra Hands and the Bishop family in general.

Jennifer and I had been recruiting student volunteers in various high schools around Denver and speaking with scores of students at a time.  We had the opportunity to introduce Extra Hands to their Distributive Education Club of America (DECA) made up of students in marketing classes. It is an active club that develops business leadership and social activities. Competitive events are held at the local, state, and national levels in salesmanship, advertising, display, and job interviewing. They have over 200 members at CCHS alone and we were very excited to tap into this wonderful network of people.

When we arrived, there were three students and their teacher, Mr. Konrad.  Honestly, we were slightly disappointed in the small turnout, but it goes to show you to be careful with expectations.  We had five families in the immediate area that needed assistance so we were going to give this opportunity all we had.  Ironically, we happened to be talking to three of the most intensely motivated students we have ever met.   Cynden, Addie and Aly were at the end of their junior year and looking for their senior community service project for DECA to add to their existing plans with the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).

Apparently, Jennifer and I struck a cord with them as they immediately told Mr. Konrad that he would be sponsoring their Extra Hands for ALS club!  To try to make a long story shorter, these student’s involvement has become much more than a community service project and more of a symbiotic relationship with us and Extra Hands.

They have spent a significant portion of their senior year raising ALS awareness and funds as well as providing help and hope to those dealing with ALS.  Sound familiar?  Check out our life mission list on the home page of www.alsliving.com.  They have demonstrated a tremendous team effort with resounding results.

Aside from their contributions with the Angels for ALS Gala, they developed an end of the year blitz, called Give It Up For ALS, where over $4,000 has been raised during the holiday season by members of their DECA club.  Addie, Aly and Cynden didn’t tell us about this campaign, instead wanting to surprise us with the results.  I was brought to tears as we were told about all the effort that went into it and all the people they brought ALS awareness to.  There were scores of donations from people who likely knew nothing about this disease prior to their campaign.

One of the main reasons for posting this article is to encourage them as they start the process of the DECA competitions with an extensive essay and speech regarding Extra Hands for ALS and MDA.  They continue working as a team with the very difficult task of putting the passion into words that has transformed this community service project into a life changing event for all of us, and hopefully, an award winning combination of prose and dialogue for DECA.  All this is being done during their winter break.

Jennifer was much more involved in high school than I was, but even she admits that the thought of what these students are accomplishing was beyond her contemplation at the time.  The dedication and thoughtfulness with which they have approached the Bishop family and Extra Hands for ALS is beyond words and we would like to simply say thank you for all that they have done and continue to do for ALS.

As for the deeper meaning of all this to the readers of this posting; remember that you never know how much you can impact the people with whom you come into contact.  With that in mind, try to make sure those contacts are positive in nature even if it doesn’t seem to make a difference.  Two of our favorite movies with powerful messages are Pay It Forward starring Haley Joel Osment, Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt as well as Mr. Holland’s Opus starring Richard Dryfus.  Rent them sometime when you think you can’t make a difference in this world.  If you’ve seen one or both of them, you know what I mean.

Happy New Year to all!