Rise and Shine

All too often all we hear is bad news. There are oil spills and Craigslist killers and recessions and unemployment lines. Companies are folding, stores closing. People are rude to each other, focusing only on themselves as they cut you off in traffic or push you out of the way as they hurry past.

It can be disheartening, all of this. Day in, day out.

Tonight, I would like to tell you something lovely; to share some good news.

Last week I was down in Miami to attend my company's national sales meeting. Along with meetings, training sessions, lunches, networking, cocktails, more meetings, dinners, and more cocktails, there are very late nights and very early mornings throughout the entire week. It's an exhausting, exhilarating event. Seeing as it is our for-profit company's sales meeting it becomes quite easy to slip straight into revenue chatter and focus solely on the bottom line.

On Thursday morning though, our focus was on something else entirely. Alarms and wake up calls swept the Fountainebleau Hotel before dawn, at 5:30am. By 6:00am over 1500 employees had gathered on the front lawn to participate in the Rise and Shine Charity Event, sponsored by my company. It's a simple concept, this event. Employees register on a voluntary basis and give a suggested donation of $25. For 1/2 an hour we exercise (and sweat in the Miami heat) together and all money donated goes toward two local charities -Community Partnership for Homeless and the Miami chapter of Teach for America.


At lunch later that same day, our company's CEO presents checks to both foundations. I am proud to tell you that in that 1/2 an hour, when we gathered together so early in the day? We raised close to $50,000. For each charity.


There are small acts, there are large ones. People are doing noble things. Good people, doing great things, making changes where and when they can. I wish we all heard that sort of news more. It's inspiring.