Jared is amazing in his efforts of carrying out his desire to have employees involved in service. It started out last November where the idea of brought up in relation to employee retention. Kids now days are looking to have meaning in the work they do. Jared came up with a plan to have the employees give suggestions on what they would like to do for a fund raiser in the store. He developed a questionnaire to get these suggestions with a plan to have the employees vote on the submitted ideas. It turns out that this plan didn't work so well, in fact, two stores are not having a fund raiser at all because they didn't turn in any suggestions.
Today we did Poway's. I think we started with the best with a small likelihood that the others can be this good. Katie Johnston knew a boy from her graduating class that was diagnosed with leukemia during their senior year. She has talked to me about him in the past. When Jared was having a meeting with the managers at Poway and talking to them about the fund raiser and trying to get them to give some sort of suggestion for a cause, Katie brought up Andrew Bundy. Since that was the only suggestion, that was they one they went with. She then knew of Nick Hollon, a boy who was running 3000 miles and raising $10,000 for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society in the name of Andrew Bundy. He made a website/blog tracking his project:
This guy is truly an inspiration and became a privilege for us to help out today. He ran a half marathon on a treadmill in our store, leaving the last 10th of a mile to walk with Andrew outside. What a moving experience this was to be a part of. Nick has spent 10 months devoting so much time to Andy's and so many other's cause. Just talking a little bit with his mom, she helped me to get a peek into what it might be like to accomplish such a goal. He had to give up working hours at their family business, he couldn't do all that he used to do at home, he couldn't do Cross Country with the school, and his family members were each very involved and dedicated to making his goals a living reality. It really makes you stop and think about what we devote our time to and also shows just how much of a difference one person can make.
Andrew Bundy is also an inspiration, with his strength and enduring through conquering his disease. He was actually just released from the hospital on Tuesday. He came with a oxygen tank and feeling a little weary, but he stayed for 1 hour and helped make that last step a crowning moment. I feel like a better person and have a better outlook on life after the few hours I spent with these great people. What a blessing this was to be a small part of. Thank you Jared for the wonderful idea and for carrying it out to the end!
I will share numbers once I get them from Jared.
Corban was also a trooper with all this going on today. He actually started out our day with a blowout just as we got to Poway. So we took our break early. He slept for much of the time once we came back and then was all smiles. He got lots of compliments on his beautiful blue eyes. He now sleeps while I struggle to stay awake, waiting for Jared.
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