Today was one of the good days...no, one of the great days. This morning was the 2019 Breakfast of Champions at Methodist Children's Hospital and this afternoon was the final reveal for the 2019 Rowan Windham Memorial Cereal Drive. What began as 4000 servings being collected from Rowan's hospital bed on the 3rd floor, for the MCH summer cereal drive, has turned into an enormous legacy that continues to grow each year.
This year the goal was 225,000 servings.
Well, as I predicted, we blew that out of the water!
We presented the San Antonio Food Bank with:
277,748 servings of cereal today.
This will be distributed to children in SA and the surrounding area (16 counties!) this summer while they are out of school.
Thank you to Methodist Children's Hospital Nurses, Staff and Leadership, Kens 5/Kens Cares, Reporter Marvin Hurst, Michael Guerra/SA Food Bank, all of the business and groups and friends and families who donated cereal or volunteered, everyone who called in and donated during the telethon on Monday (during which we raised over $8000 for the Food Bank!) or donated online, etc. This is indeed a group effort. One Rowan was certainly guiding and smiling down on from Heaven.
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Some of my favorite pictures of the day were those from the Breakfast of Champions, which is a special event that was added to the cereal drive last year.
Our amazing panel this year included Bryn Forbes of the SA Spurs, Sean Elliot NBA broadcaster and former SA Spur, his health and fitness enthusiast and speaker wife Claudia Zapata-Elliot, and Costanza Roeder founder of Hearts Need Art.
Kens Cares and Methodist Children's Hospital asked for nominations back in April, of children in the community who exemplified similar charitable qualities to Rowan, such as selflessness and service. They ended up with 80 nominees! It was tough to do, but the field was narrowed down to 13 and those 13 children were honored with a Breakfast of Champions today.
Some of these kids had started their own non-profits, some were campaigning to stop bullying, others had collected toys for children in the hospital, or shaved their head to raise money for childhood cancer research. One had collected gift cards for law enforcement officers so they would know they had support, and could take a break and grab lunch or coffee for free. All of the children were doing amazing things in the community. It was awe-inspiring!
These community/world changers had the opportunity to ask our esteemed panel questions. They asked for advice, asked what motivated them, who had inspired them, etc. It was such a heart warming event. At the end, I spoke briefly, telling these kids a little bit about Rowan and his missions in life. Then I reminded them that they are not just changing the world now with these acts of kindness...if they keep it up they could be leaving their legacy behind someday too. I explained how legacy was defined by "leaving your mark on the world", and that while I wish I could bring Rowan back every day, I am so proud of the way he left his mark on the world...still today, two and half years after his death. I told them how proud we all were of them, and the mark they were leaving as well. What I wish I would have added, is that Rowan would have been proud to be friends with each and every one of them!
Here are just a few pictures of the panel and some of the winners of the awards...
Of course there was a big stir having Sean Elliot and Bryn Forbes in the room...I mean come on, San Antonio loves its Spurs!
But let me tell you, they were all so humble and kind, and it was a pleasure to meet them and to get to talk to them a little more about Rowan. They seemed genuinely honored to be a part of the event, and offered me heartfelt condolences and hugs. A huge thank you to each of them for giving of their valuable time to encourage these young children to continue making the good.
After the breakfast and panel, everyone headed downstairs to the lobby for the final cereal total reveal and presentation to the SA Food Bank. It is always a sight to behold... wall to wall cereal, that we have been stacking up as fast as it is dropped off in the lobby all week long. The colorful display just makes you smile and warms your hearts.
Lots of laughter, hugs, tears, smiles, and joy felt in that hospital lobby today. It is so wonderful to see people come together for a good cause. "Amazing Together" is an understatement!
After the reveal and the cheers, after the interviews and photo opportunities...comes the hard physical work...
This amazing team wheeled out huge racks, stacked and wrapped pallets, filled water melon bins, and helped stage and fill not 1, not 2, not even just 3...but 4 huge trucks headed for the SA Food Bank. And we did it quickly, due to the 100 degree heat, I might add;)
"Fighting Hunger...Feeding HOPE!"
Can't wait to do it again next year:)
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