121

Well, tonight the blog is a bit different. More information than opining. I think I will sprinkle in some opinion because I surely cannot get by without doing so. First things first though. Tonight, was the Chamber of Commerce after hours. As much as I hate interacting, I really enjoy the conversations. At some point there will be a big right hook, a Gary Vaynerchuk reference, with the blog tonight. It is funny how it is important to meet the people who can affect your business or dreams in situations that are comfortable to them. Really though, I truly believe that many of the people are as uncomfortable as I am at these events but we all muscle through.

Tonight’s event was hosted by Webber International University and was at their new Alumni Center. It seemed that the turnout was a little light, but it was nice to see some familiar faces from my time at Webber and from some of the business leaders in the Lake Wales area. It was nice to catch up with the bank executive, the insurance boss, the community college center director, the president of a university, the director of alumni, a candidate for the state senate, a few professors, a cool softball player, two professors of accounting, the dean of student life, a Captain in the Sheriff’s Department, and the vice president of institutional effectiveness and research.

Webber was a part of my life for a long period of time. The first time I was on the campus was when I was 12 years old. I have been a part of some great dinners when the school was the mecca for the wealthiest of the wealthy. I have been around when they didn’t mow the grass and there were only 250 students. Tonight, I learned there were over 600 students and when all is said and done they are aiming for 1200. We all need goals. My dad was an integral part of the college for 35 years and I believe the school has shaped many of the traits I carry forward today. I have seen at least three presidents and watched the school transform. Heck, I still have a pair of shorts, some shirts, and a few hats that still have Webber College on the logo. Oh yeah, they are still the warriors but with the hubbub from Native Americans they have even lost the Caloosa Tribe reference and gone with a more Nordic warrior. At least they haven’t complained yet.

If you have made it through the first three paragraphs I will get to the meat of this now. A few months ago, we came into some money from a 50/50 drawing. This winning drew the attention of my mother in law, Ruthie, and she thought it would be great to give some bikes to kids who might really want one and couldn’t afford one. Ken, my father in law, and I thought this was cool. We are a Century 21 franchise, so we thought giving 21 bikes would be a cool thing. Ruthie, who is always thinking bigger, remembered that Century 21 had recently updated their branding and started using the 121% as part of their branding. She thought that we should just go all in and go for 121 bikes for kids in our area. Oh boy, there is nothing like a bit of pressure to make something happen.

Okay, it is early September and of course, we are striving to raise the funding to give 121 bikes to kids in elementary school and middle school who really want a bike but truly cannot afford to get one. We are going to partner with the Lake Wales Police Department and the Polk County Sherriff Department to distribute these bikes to those who deserve them and want them. This is a straight-up request from the community in this area to help us out. We will be giving 121 bikes to kids in this area. If you can help us with this journey, we will give you the credit you deserve. We will honor you on our social media, and let the community know who made this possible. If you want to donate a bike versus the cash that is fine. Walmart will be the store that is handling the bikes and putting them together. Each of the local law enforcement agencies will be handling the distribution of the bikes. We are truly a ragtag group but with the communities’ support or digging deep into our own pockets, 121 kids in the Polk County area will have a new bike to ride around this coming Christmas. If you are interested at all, please call me at 863-326-3009 or email me at treyheath@hotmail.com. Yes, I got that email address when Hotmail started.

Photo by Chris Lawton on Unsplash
Photo by Charl Folscher on Unsplash