Happy 7th Anniversary to Us!

7 years ago today (after months of preparation and years of wheels spinning) I was prepared, excited and anxious to take a shot in the dark and launch an organization that I had no formal future plans for and no idea of where it would go or even how we would get there. I just knew I was sick of watching kids suffer, I wanted to make a change, and I wanted to give the community an opportunity to learn and engage, if they wanted. I was sitting at my kitchen table, Kellen was in bed, our website had just been finalized and so I decided to click ‘post’…my world has not been the same ever since. Not even close.

Our organization has grown in crazy ways, we have engaged thousands of volunteers, impacted thousands of children in incredibly difficult life situations, developed an educational team of 40+ who facilitate more than 100 programs each year, created and implemented a fully functional 4 week summer camp and launched multiple large scale projects over the course of each year bringing in tens of thousands of very needed resources for children in poverty. We now partner with 5 local shelters, with one on the horizon. We transport hundreds of pounds of fresh produce weekly and we rarely say ‘no’ when there is a need. We partner with our 5 shelters, the school system and the department of social services in support of children.

I am really proud of our team. I’m proud of our progress. I’m humbly proud of our community who has supported us and given us a chance to show them why what we do really matters.

I do always like to take this anniversary opportunity to also recognize my family who has made tremendous sacrifices (I can’t ever adequately describe) to allow me to drive this bus that I feel so passionate about. It’s quite literally 24/7.

Happy 7th anniversary to us, Empower4Life!

We celebrated at our annual golf tournament today! (Those pics to come later)

Pictured below, 7 years ago today…doing what we do (informally, had been doing for months) and wondering if tonight would be the night I felt called to be brave enough to do it.

Cheers to everyone on our team making a small impact in our little pocket of the world! THANK YOU!!!