Leap of Faith
The last few weeks have moved at a frenetic pace, with me hopping on board to help organize a fundraiser during #INTA2022 - a (some would say) crazy idea conceived by Phil Cox, with inspiration from the amazing efforts of Taras Kulbaba.
Sometimes, you just have to take a leap of faith and believe that you can make it happen.
And while our focus was rightly on the task at hand, namely, to bring our global TM community together to raise money to help the people of Ukraine, now that our big #BrandAction fundraising event is over (although the opportunity to donate is not www.brandaction.org), I can take a breath and reflect.
Reflect upon the AMAZING team of the core 5 founding volunteers, Phil Cox , Taras Kulbaba, Alexis Winslow, Bri Van Til and, humbly, me. This experience has been truly life altering. To work countless hours with such wonderful and giving individuals, none of whom I knew particularly well before, each of whom has their own “day job” and life responsibilities, but all of whom gave and gave. No one hesitated to get on an “hour” call in the middle of the day, knowing full well that the hour would turn into two and sometimes three as we tried to figure out how to pull the whole thing off! These four will forever have a special place in my heart.
And to those that we’ve met along the way, and who have generously given their time and their expertise to help us turn this into a reality, I am immensely grateful. Rebekah Miel 🐝 Lisa Weiss october.tv Michael Bradley Carlos Leiva among so many others.
And finally, to the faces behind the charities we selected , Vitaliy Dubil, EMBA taking the time last week to meet me and Phil in D.C., notwithstanding the fact that the IMF had a big global meeting that week, coming to our last-minute invitation for drinks with sponsors on a Saturday night and, of course, joining us for the fundraising event and giving such a heartwarming account to those in the room of why you started Support Hospitals in Ukraine.
And then, if I wasn’t already a fan, bringing me a bag full of Ukrainian items for my 9 year old son who is doing a class project on Ukraine because I happened to mention his project a few days earlier and inquired whether you might have some Ukrainian currency my son could show his class – you have warmed my heart.
And to Knowrhah Fleurimond at World Central Kitchen - you didn’t have much notice, and we clearly could have been an overwhelming room full of lawyers, and yet, you got up in front of that room on Tuesday night and KILLED it with your sincerity and ease in explaining the mission of WCK. We were honored to have you with us.
This experience has reminded me of the power of community, the wonderfulness of humanity, even in times that seem so inhumane, and the value in taking time to focus on things that you believe in.
