While I appreciate Hildy’s words, I do want to speak about THE POLLYANNA PRINCIPLES and how it transformed our organization.

Prior to being introduced to Hildy, we had an awesome idea to address an overlooked, underserved need in our community. What was it? Inadequate school supplies.

At inception, we decided we would distribute school supplies to children who were living in low-income, poor or homeless households. While it is an admirable undertaking, it runs the risk of becoming a repetitive good deed with no real sense of future or change. Looking back, our original premise does seem too routine for a group of [future] visionaries.

A little over a year ago we started reading some very cool, unique ideas by some woman on Twitter from Arizona (who would be later named, “Hildy”). As we read and digested the information, we found ourselves looking at what we were doing and why we wanted to do it. We started experiencing our calling in a different way. We then re-examined our mission, introduced a vision and started tweaking our thinking, programming and being.

In a short time, we sought to take on all of the tangible items a school-aged child would need to succeed in school and in life; school supplies, reading books and dictionaries. At the same time, we moved away from the thinking and actions that were not congruent with our own mission and vision of a community that is educated, vibrant and caring.

We now had a different way of experiencing our community and all of the possibilities that exist for tis future. We listened. We cared. We planned. We examined. We laughed and cried. And most importantly, we were impassioned.

As a result, we went from ‘serving’ about 500 kids to ‘EMPOWERING’ 14,000 children in a short time. We made the calls and sent the e-mails we were too afraid to make before. As a result, we acquired over $600,000 in brand new reading books and received over $100,000 in classroom supplies from just two extremely large relief organizations we would have never approached. We presented ourselves on behalf of a community of people, rather than some new mom-and-pop nonprofit. [There’s more awesome milestones listed within our annual report card. Feel free to e-mail me if you want to see all that THE POLLYANNA PRINCIPLES made possible.]

When opportunities and challenges presented themselves, as they always do, we compared them against our own vision, mission and values…as opposed to carelessly moving on to the next person in line for a backpack.

We, too, were becoming empowered as we worked to create a powerful future.

In conclusion, I truly believe Hildy, and especially THE POLLYANNA PRINCIPLES, helped Operation: Kid Equip become a local leader for the future of our children. The thing I tell everyone is that if you have any doubts yourself, just look at what the hundreds and hundreds of individuals and community benefit organizations are able to achieve with THE POLLYANNA PRINCIPLES.

Thank you again, Hildy!