When you think of a Mayor you think of a stuff shirt individual that is all about politics and numbers but not this Mayor! He reminds me of John F. Kennedy, he is the nicest and warmest man that has a heart for the City of Dallas and its people.
He shared his dreams for the city and talked about his hero which was his mother. I will post the interview on the internet with him and of course we invted him to the BIG Give Red Carpet affair.
Calling all givers, will you be there. The list is quickly filling up and there will be no room for extras on the set.
Have you ever been in a place where you didn't think you could go another step and then something happened? That's where I was this week. I experienced a roller coaster of emotions. Before I can perform the ribbon cutting for the Giving Boutique Retail Store on February 28th, I am preparing for the Big Givers Food Pantry two doors down all because of some BIG Givers who turned MY dream into a reality. See my previous post (YES, WE CAN)
So it is only befitting as founder of the Giving Movement that we join the Queen of Giving to celebrate her new show called "Oprah's Big Give".
How will we celebrate? I'm glad you asked. I called the owner of Studio Movie Grill and asked if they would GIVE us a theater on March 2nd for Free and donate FREE movie tickets to be given away during the commercials and on my Good News radio show. I waited a couple of days, said a little prayer and continued to work on the food pantry. Well, the phone rang and my new best friend,said "YES, we will do it". So what does this mean?
Save the date: Sunday, March 2nd at 7:30 I am calling all givers to the prestigous brand new one week old( you can still smell the fresh paint)prestigious Studio Movie Grill located at 11170 N Central Expressway, Dallas, Texas 75243 ( located in the NE corner) Once you are seated in your comfortable individual leather chair that swivels, rolls, and tilts, servers will take your order like any restaurant. Your food will be brought to you inside the theater, usually before the movie starts, so you can enjoy your meal during the show. You will also be given a small coaster light. We don't want to disturb you during the BIG GIVE show, so the coaster light lets their staff know you want service. Your check will be dropped 40 minutes before the movie ends and you can pay out at your convenience.
THE SEATING IS LIMITED AND YOU MUST RSVP to: give@thegivingmovement.org Once you have done that you MUST receive a letter of confirmation from the Giving Movement. If you want to start donating now you can click on the donate now butoon on the website. Any donation is appreciated and needed.
In order to enter the doors you must GIVE! Donate something to the Giving Movement's "BIG Giver's Food Pantry" We need diapers, wet wipes, tissue,toiletries and non-perishable items to stock the shelves and help people in the community. Bring the items and let's fill the truck!
This is a family event, teach your children the joy of giving. Hope you make the cut. See you at the show. This will be a weekend of giving! Join the movement.
I watched a video this morning from Presidential hopeful Barak Obama. In the video he showed many people coming together and the theme was Yes,we Can. I remembered receiving a phone call last month from a Dallas Morning News reporter who said he was looking for the number one Oprah fan to ask a question about her endorsement of Obama. I laughed when he said "they found that person to be me." So he began to ask questions. Questions like, "do I feel that Oprah was wrong to endorse Obama and will that make me vote for him because she did endorse him." As president of a non-profit organization let me say that I am speaking on behalf of myself only and not this organization. As I watched Obama's video, and I kept hearing the words YES,WE CAN be repeated over and over again something on the inside of me rose up.
Yesterday, was a long day. I went to Home Depot to ask for them to donate the material and labor supplies that were needed to complete the food pantry and they said I had to fill out a grant request which takes 6-8 weeks before I would get a request. It was like someone had blowed up a beautiful balloon and popped it in my face. I frantically drove around searching, asking and seeking for donations and help. There is a scripture in the bible that said the harvest is ripe but the laborers are few. Of course, in my life things are always the opposite. I have 24 angels who want to do this project but according to their project guidelines, they can NOT use their own money. I have exhausted all my money. I can't afford to pay attention.
When you see and read about big organizations, you must understand that they started from somewhere small. I'm sure you heard of Larry Jones and Feed the Children(he will be on my radio show this Saturday). His goal was just to feed one child at a time. Oprah Winfrey with the Angel Network, well she's a different breed LOL. But Lady O went throught some things to get to where she is now. My point is they made it. So as I sit here with tears streaming down my face, getting ready to face another day, and I say to you YES, WE CAN. You can achieve your dreams and so can I. YES, WE CAN. I was born to give. I was born to help others and like my mother said and I proudly quote "CJ, you can do anything you put your mind to" and to that I say, YES, I CAN. I also told you I would be candid about my feelings and the truth of the matter is I am so tired. My mind, my body and my soul is aching. But I still press on. My son told me that he wanted to do what I did, in regards to speaking to the children in school's as a full time job. Can you imagine that? One day I hope to hire him. Oprah said it best, your passion is doing the things you want to do, even if you don't get paid to do it. Well, I am definitely living my passion.
About 13 years ago I was working with Dancing with the Stars Champion, Emmitt Smith. Although one would think that working for him was a huge privilege, my reward and most prized connecton came when I met Larry and Frances Jones of Feed the Children. Larry was a warm gentle man, extremely soft spoken and he had a sparkle in his eyes everytime he spoke about the children. Larry consulted me when I talked about my dreams for starting my non-profit. He has always had time for my phone calls and when I picked up his new book, Keep Walking: One Man's Journey to Feed the World One Child at a Time , I knew I had to get Larry on our show. This man has a message and it's one you can't afford to miss. Be sure to join me this Saturday at 9:00-10:00AM on 990AM KFCD. Here is a review from his book, Keep Walking: “Keep Walking is a must-read for anyone who ever thought humanitarian work is easy. Larry Jones has been stranded 10,000 miles from home while hustling food to the starving on both sides of warring enemy lines. He and Feed The Children have been the first to arrive and the last to leave the world’s most horrific natural disasters and acts of terrorism. Our nation is looking for a hero. It need not look beyond Larry Jones.” —Lee Iacocca “Larry Jones touches your heart and soul with the things that touch the heart and soul of God. He is a master storyteller, a consummate humanitarian, a compellingly insightful evangelist trying to make the world work for the people that it doesn’t work for. He is friend to all and beloved by those he serves who will never know him. Read this book and you will have an expanded soul too.” —Mark Victor Hansen
On Thursday, I received a call from a man named Sean. I met Sean in December of 2007 for a brief moment, he had stopped by the boutique to donate toys for Christmas. I shared a smile and I introduced him to someone I thought might help him achieve his dream. I thought he was calling to thank me for the introduction but instead he asked me what did I need for the Giving Movement Organization. I explained about the store and the FOOD PANTRY - you know the one I wrote about in my previous blog that had no electricity and told him my dream. He asked me to email him my wants and needs for the pantry. The following morning Sean called me back and said that a leadership group #171 wanted to take on my project at no cost to me!!!
Can you imagine my tears? I don't think you can? I mean I have watched this stuff happen on televison, Queen O does it all the time but this has Never happened to me. The most money I can get is $5 from a Game show LOL (that's another story) I sat there crying the ugly cry. My phone begin to ring from people all around the world that I had never met. They told me how much I deserved for this to happen and how honored they were to have do it. I think I cried on every conversation. Saturday morning when I drove to my building the Angels were waiting there. This is what an Angels looks like. I will continue to take pictures so you can see the results.
On December 25th I opened the Giving Boutiques doors to give away free toys at Christmas. I remembered waking up with my 5 brothers and one sister and my two cousins and we had nothing but LOVE. I promised myself if can help it, I want to make sure every kid in my world has a toy. Thanks to four Walmart stores and the kindness of Generous Strangers we were able to provide toys to the ones who needed.As I type this blog I can't explain the emotions that are going through my mind.
I was given a key to a storefront two doors down from the Giving Boutique. The store had no electricity and the walls needed drywall and painting. The ceiling had tiles missing everywhere, one as a matter of fact one of the tiles almost fell and hit me in the head, but it was MY building and MY dream so I was thrilled to be in that cold dreary place.
I can see it now... people coming in from miles away to receive food and LOVE. But how would this happen? I have exhausted all of my funds. My dear old hubby has been patient with me. He sees my vision and supports it but when will it breakthrough ( this was my prayer) Then it happened, I titled this blog do you believe in Angels for several reasons. The most important one is because of my father. He passed away 3 years ago and he always told me I could do anything I wanted to. I remember his butterfly kisses, Let me pause for a moment and I will be right back. tears oh the tears whew
Okay, I'm back. This place is going to be the Giving Movement's Food Pantry. My dream is to partner with the charities and distribute food and toiletries to people in our area.
My first Angel is the woman who gave me the key to my FREE building. She laughed while I cried because I said if you GIVE me the key, the rest will come together. I told her I wanted the place for FREE and she finally said okay. Can you believe it? She was probably thinking what could I do with a building without electricity and that is useless. ( Isn't that what we think about some people?)
Wait until I post the pictures to see what some people whom I have NEVER met has done for me. So instead of doing one grand opening on February 28th we will be doing two. I am aazed and overwhelmed. All I have to say is HOLD ON TIGHT TO YOU DREAMS and NEVER let anyone take them from you. I will post more thoughts later. I am running out the door to another meeting. I have to ask Home Depot to donate materials for the store. Wish me luck.
