Dave Bennett's United Way Campaign Blog 2007

One Last Blog

2007-11-21T08:59:00.001-05:00

So, yesterday, Julie Talbott and I turned in the last of the courthouse's United Way materials.

And here we are after victory. We made it, and I feel terrific. The goal's met. The campaign's over. And we had a great victory on Friday.

And now the good's to be done.

And I'm glad I signed up to be campaign chairman now. I'm ecstatic I did it. If you'd have asked me last Monday, I probably would have had a different answer! Seriously though, it was great. And now I'm a past campaign chair, and we were the first United Way in this area to finish its campaign on-time. No other United Way in the mid-East Tennessee area has to my knowledge.

Ya' know, I went into this thing with no clue what kind of commitment it was or what it would mean internally working toward goal. And there we were and hadn't made goal at 4:00 o'clock Thursday the day before victory. Then we got the last bit of pledges in that put us over the edge, and it was like a giant weight was lifted off my shoulders – just hours before I was going to announce we made victory. Now I know that wasn't the latest we ever did it, but it sure ain't the earliest we ever made it either.

But the good thing is that the money is going to do so much good.

Like I said at the victory, there's going to be somebody sitting at the kick-off breakfast next year whose life has been forever changed, and my life has been forever changed by being a part of this. I appreciate Sandra and the staff for their hard work. It's just been a wonderful experience, and I'm so excited to be the immediate past chairman.

I want to make it clear I don't want to take any of the credit for this campaign because it's the campaign cabinet and the staff who made this happen. I said from the very beginning, I'm just the head cheerleader – no offense to Bryan Daniels. But it feels great to make goal.

And ya' set goals in life so that ya' have to reach hard. On Monday, I was kickin' myself for not setting the goal at $2,100,000 at the campaign cabinet retreat back in May when we were talkin' about it. And I was like, "Aw, come on. Let's do $2,150,000," and last week, I thought, 'What an idiot was I! Cause we'd have made goal Monday if we'd set it at $2,100,000.' But think about the good that extra $50,000 will do in the life of a child, or a victim of a fire, or a domestic abuse victim, or an elderly person needing a meal.

I'm glad we set it where it was, but we barely went over. But it's like bein' pregnant – either ya' are or ya' aren't. It's one or the other. And last Monday, I said to Sandra, "Why did ya' let me open my big mouth and set that goal so high?"

When ya' really think about it with the 5.1 % increase over last year, with the state of the economy the way it is, with the mortgages, and with the gas prices. The list goes on and on, and with the community to step up the way it did. I guarantee ya' there were many people out there who thought, 'That bunch is crazy if they think they're gonna' raise that much money over what they did last year.' It's proof positive that this is the greatest community in the world to live, and the people in Blount County are truly giving people.

I really appreciate Sandra's confidence in me. I know she has a lot of say in who campaign chairs are. I know they're selected by a committee, but obviously as president and CEO she's not going to let any bonehead do it. She just let this bonehead do it. It's been fun, the most nerve-wracking I've ever been involved in – especially these last two weeks when we're eight days out and we're $175,000 short. But we made it, and I just want to say a final thanks to my campaign cabinet. I have a lot of good friends on there, and I appreciate their help.

This campaign has been a long journey. We started with touring all of the community partners, had a great pacesetters campaign, then had the kick-off breakfast, had a very successful Day of Caring. Then we moved into the campaigns, had the mid-campaign report meeting where we were right on-target, then had the most successful hamburger luncheon where I did those deep-fried Twinkies, then we had Gas Day which was also the most successful Gas Day we've ever had, and then we moved into victory (and I'll never live that down with Twinkie the Kid showin' up), and we're the only United Way in this area to make it on-time and on-goal.

Again, I don't want to take credit for us makin' goal, but I'm glad I could play a small part in that.

Thank y'all for readin' the blog. It's been great to be able to share my thoughts with ya' on here. This has been an incredible journey, and I'm glad I could take y'all with me.

All blogged out,
Dave Bennett

11th Hour

2007-11-13T15:52:00.000-05:00

Y'all know how I said it was crunch time a couple of weeks ago? I lied.

Now it's really crunch time.

We're going to make goal, and several of us are here at United Way reminding folks to get their pledges in.

And it's crazy right now wrapping this campaign up.

We have about a dozen of us volunteering right now to make sure
everyone who wants to contribute to United Way gets their pledges in.

But here we are at the end of this campaign, working to make a difference for Blount County.

So, how am I feeling right now?

I'm nervous. I'm excited. And I'm anxious.

I'm nervous. I'm excited. And I'm anxious.

But it's going to be wonderful come Friday when we hold our victory. We're down around $90,000 to go. Hopefully, by the end of the day we'll have around $70,000 to go for the campaign.

It's been one heck of a ride, especially these last two weeks. I never thought a volunteer job could be so stressful and rewarding all at the same time. And ya' know how I said I was sleepin' a couple of hours a night? That's gone. I'm gonna' sleep like a baby come Friday.

To anybody that's not turned in their pledge, now is the time to get it in, create lasting change and do what matters, and thank you to those who have pledged and made this a successful campaign. We couldn't do it without you.

Blog ya' later,
Dave Bennett

I Ain't Sleepin' Anymore

2007-11-02T09:06:00.001-04:00

Hey everybody,

We're two weeks away from wrapping this campaign up, and I'll tell ya' I ain't sleepin' right now. I might get two hours a night, but to me that ain't sleepin'.

I go to bed dreamin' about the United Way logo. I wake up seein' the United Way logo. This is all I think about:

I can't get this campaign out of my head. But that's a good thing with me being campaign chair.

Of course, it's not all because I'm stayin' up worryin' about this campaign. Some of it's just me runnin' around to meetings tellin' about United Way. I've gone to Denso meetings at 6:00 at night. I've gone to the Sheriff's Office at 5:30 in the morning. I've got one 5:30 in my day, but I tell ya' for United Way I'll have two!

We had our campaign cabinet meeting this morning, and things are lookin' pretty good:

Then we did a projection where we took what we have in and what we think is going to come in, and right now if all of the outstanding accounts come in at the exact same level they were at last year, we're runnin' a shortage of $3,295. I tell ya' that $3,295 is gonna' keep me awake for two weeks straight. But we're gonna' work hard these last two weeks findin' new folks and businesses to give so we can not only meet, but beat our goal. I'm confident we can do that, but it’s gonna' take every one of us doin' our part.

I feel like that song from Smokey and the Bandit where it says, "We got a long way to go and a short time to get there."

If y'all wanna' help, just make sure you get your pledge in, and if ya' know someone who doesn't contribute, tell 'em about United Way. Get 'em on-board.

I want to let y'all know that restaurants in Blount County are pitchin' in, too.

They're doing a campaign called "What Matters on Your Platter" where customers can contribute to United Way at the restaurant through November 11th. Restaurants helpin' out are Aubrey’s Restaurant, Foothills Milling Company, Gracie’s Restaurant, Huddle House, Lemon Grass, Shoney’s Restaurant and Sun Up Diner.

Just click here to read Blount Today's article about it, and click here to see what the Daily Times ran on it. Some of those restaurants are even doin' tear-off sheets where you can sign your name, and the restaurant will post it up on their walls.

I better go for now. Y'all have a good one. And contribute to United Way so that I can get some sleep at night!

Blog ya' later,
Dave Bennett

P.S. Our blog has just recently become a part of the World's Biggest Blog Party. Maryville businessman Tim Richardson came up with the idea to link up 1,000 bloggers in the hopes to raise $1,000,000 for nonprofits. They saw the blog and asked us to join. They're gonna' have a link to us from the site and everything.

CRUNCH TIME!

2007-10-19T16:34:00.000-04:00

Hello everybody,

Well, y'all, here we are four weeks away from the end of this campaign, and it's crunch time. Right now we're sittin' at 61.1% with $1,314,955 of a $2,150,000 goal. Not too bad. We're gettin' there. These last four weeks are when a lot of magic happens, and we just got to stay focused.

We had our mid-campaign report meeting a few days back, and we had all of the reporting chairs with the exception of Bryan Daniels, who was away on business – so he says. I think he was still embarrassed by the funny video.

Just so everybody knows, Andy White's General Business Division came in first place, raising almost 75% of their goal. (General Business is up to 82.8% of their goal to date.)

Here's a picture of him accepting his blue ribbon.

I'm proud of Andy. He's become a true politician.

(Now don't tell him I said that.)

But it was a great report meeting, and each of our campaign chairs reported being on target to meeting our goal, which is wonderful.

Anyway, here we are with a little less than a month to go in the campaign. The hard work starts now. We've got a little more than $827,000 left to raise, and we're down to weeks left. And we've got a long way to go and a short time to get there.

It's time to get energized and refocused. That last lap is the hardest one to run, and it's time to run.

Blog ya' later,
Dave Bennett

Got Gas? I Did!

2007-10-09T17:29:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody,

Gas Day was Friday. That was good to get out there and get gas. Aw, you know what I mean.

First of all, I want to thank the hundreds of volunteers we had at E-Z Stops, KenJo Markets, and Mr. Gas locations. And we couldn't have even done Gas Day without the gas companies, like Calloway Oil, Downey Oil, and McNutt Oil. They allowed us to pump gas, wash windshields, and accept tips, and I want to thank them for their community spirit for giving United Way some of the money they make off of the gas from the sales that day. Plus, Coke and Pepsi helped out, too.

We got a total on the tips. We raised $6,197.19 in TIPS alone on Gas Day. That doesn't include the money from the gas sales or the soda sales. That's strictly tips, and it's over $2,500 more than what was made in tips last year.

It was a great opportunity for those of us who volunteer with United Way to get the word out about what we do. I saw several people who did not know about United Way, and it gave me the opportunity to tell them about what we did.

At our station we even had a guy from New Orleans who had never heard of United Way, and he was so moved by our United Way and what we do, he said he was going to go back to New Orleans and make a contribution.

And we touched a lot of people who don't get to hear about United Way, and hopefully, they'll go home and check us out on the internet. And of course, you know me, I didn't talk up my blog at all.

Our station did $561.86 in tips. We had about fifteen volunteers from our office for the station, and I thank them for taking the time to do that. And I appreciate the mayor coming out and spending some time with folks. I didn't strong-arm the staff too much, I hope.

WATE came out and did a news story about us for their 10 o'clock news, and the mayor was out there pumping gas and washing windows, being the good public servant that he is.

And the beauty of this is we're out there doing this for United Way. I think we're going to surpass our estimates for the day, and what that means is we'll be able to make goal, beat goal, and when allocations rolls around, we'll be able to make that much more of a difference in Blount County, and that's where it really matters.

Well, thank y'all for comin' out to Gas Day. I'll blog again soon about our mid-campaign report meeting we had, too. So stay tuned for that!

Blog ya' later,
Dave Bennett

2007-09-26T16:20:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody,

I just finished up with the Hamburger Luncheon a little while ago, and let me tell ya'...I'm tired. But what a good day it was.

We sold out of the 200 deep-fried Twinkies right at the end, and that line stayed about ten people deep from 11:00 - 2:00.

Ken Scwall from WBIR couldn't believe how good those fried Twinkies were. We'll be on the news tonight around 6:25 on Channel 10. Be sure to tune in. [UPDATE: If you missed it last night, just click here to see us on Schwall's segment!]

I was on my feet for over three hours.

But I love it. This is one of the funnest events that we do every year with all of the community. Look at the people who came. We sold all of these hamburgers and raised all this money for United Way. It just don't get any better than that. With all the fun we've had, I just have to say a special thanks to Julie Talbott, Deb Parker, and Kim Kirkland who helped me out tremendously. I was just the fry boy, but they got them ready, put the powdered sugar on, and served 'em up to folks.

All of the totals aren't in yet with all of the tickets people sold out in the community, but the deep-fried Twinkies alone raised $500 for United Way.

We sold over 1,000 hamburgers in three hours. By noon, we had sold 800 hamburgers with the carry-out and delivery orders. It was amazing.

But it's been a great day, and everybody came in and fellowshipped for a good cause.

One person dropped a hundred dollar check for their $2 Twinkie.

Thanks to everyone for coming out and the 40 volunteers who gave up several hours of their time for this event.

A special thanks to our sponsors who raised a tremendous amount of money for this event: Alcoa, Inc., AT&T, Attorney Craig Garrett, Blount County Government, City of Alcoa, City of Maryville, Johnny's Outboard, Kissel & Whitlock, CPA, ORNL Federal Credit Union, Parks and Rec, and Twin City Dealerships.

And I want to thank companies that provided items for the luncheon: Chik-Fil-A, Coca-Cola, East Tennessee Electropolishing, Heritage Propane, Hope Photography, IJ Company, Pepsi, R Chatfield and Company, Sonic Drive-in, Tarpley Signs, US Foods, Wal-Mart: Alcoa and Maryville. If I'm forgettin' anybody, let me know, and I'll be sure to add them.

A lot of companies donated door prizes, and there were a ton of those.

So many people came together for this thing, and we can't thank you enough.

Well, I'm gonna' go for now. I'm worn out.

Blog you soon,
Dave Bennett

Burgers and Twinkies for United Way

2007-09-24T10:35:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody,

This Wednesday we're doing the Hamburger Luncheon for United Way over at First Baptist Church of Maryville across from the courthouse, and first of all, I wanna' say a special thanks to Blount County Circuit Court Clerk Tom Hatcher and his entire committee who have worked so hard on this thing. This is their fourth year doin' this thing, and when Tom was Public Service campaign chair four years ago, he had this idea about a hamburger lunch. He put it together, thinkin' it may be something that could take off, and it's exceeded any expectations any of us had.

And I'm going to be doing fried Twinkies for $2.00. I deep-fried Twinkies for Relay for Life, and the committee asked me if I could come by and deep fry some Twinkies for the luncheon. And you know me, I love anything deep-fried. Anything deep-fried is good – except for squash. And these deep-fried Twinkies are gonna' be $2.00 each, so you better come early because we are gonna' sell out.

I don't think there's any doubt we're gonna' sell out of burgers, too. You can get carry-out and delivery (for ten orders or more). But if you can, come to First Baptist Church because there'll be a lot of fellowship. And for $5.00 – you can't eat lunch anywhere in town for $5.00. You get a burger, chips, drink, and a cookie for only five bucks, and be sure to come see me for a fried Twinkie.

We'll see if Joe Dawson at Blount Memorial can offer cholesterol tests with the purchase of a deep-fried Twinkie.

Rumor has it Ken Schwall from WBIR Channel 10 might shoot a Positively Schwall story for the 6:00 o'clock news. Ken heard about me frying Twinkies, and thought it might make a good story – especially with me having heart surgery several months back. To the rumors that Ken might be there, I think me frying Twinkies fits into his stories perfectly – especially with me and my Twinkie King hat!

Well, I'll see y'all at the burger luncheon this Wednesday! By the way if you want to place a carry-out or delivery order, just email burgers@unitedwayblount.org or call 661-9341.

Blog you soon,
Dave Bennett

Legal Aid

2007-09-14T14:39:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody,

Just before the campaign kick-off, I got to visit Legal Aid, and I met with Laura Rule and Deb House over there. Legal Aid works to make sure the elderly, victims of domestic violence and low-income families receive civil legal assistance. They believe that legal services should be available to everyone – even those with little income.

They really are serving a need in Blount County, and I really like that they've got local attorneys that are donating their time. I think partnerships are the way to make things happen. Ya' know we could just pour money at something, but getting the buy-in of the legal community and having them be a part of that is great. And partnerships with Haven House and the Public Defender's Office are good, too, so that they can get the word out there and get people referred to Legal Aid.

And these folks at Legal Aid are doing this as a public service. They could make much more as an attorney in the private sector, but they've decided this is their calling, so my hat's off to them for doing what they think is right. I'm a firm believer that if you do the right thing, it all works out in the end. And I believe they're doing the right thing.

One thing that really blows my mind is if they're in court defending someone else, and they happen to hear about a case that's going on where Legal Aid could help, they're not allowed to approach that person and tell them they could help. Legal Aid is not allowed to solicit in the courtroom.

That doesn't make sense to me. If they hear about someone in need, they ought to be able to reach out to them. Yeah, there needs to be laws and provisions and guidelines for that type of thing, but still, we need to have common sense. Of course, I was glad to hear that sometimes the judge will refer those folks to Legal Aid. That's important. People that use Legal Aid need the help. They really, really need it. And we gotta' do what we can to make sure they get those services they need.

Well, y'all have a good weekend.

Blog you later,
Dave Bennett

P.S. We had a campaign report meeting this meeting, and so far, we've raised $797,089 – 37% of our goal! Good work, y'all! Keep it going!

Girl Scouts

2007-09-12T08:34:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody,

This campaign is going strong! A little birdie at United Way told me we've raised $790,039 so far. We're over a third of the way there! Thank you!

I wanted to tell y'all about the visit I had with the Girl Scouts.

I met with Lucille Griffo and several from her staff over there. They're really an amazing bunch out there, and they opened my eyes to what the Girl Scouts do in the community.

The impact the Girl Scouts make on these girls is wonderful, and I had no idea what all they did. When I thought about Girl Scout troops, I thought of Daisies and Brownies, earning badges, and cookies. I mean thought that’s all they did. (By the way I am a Thin Mint man. But tag-a-longs are a close second!)

The outreach they are doing is just tremendous. They're mentoring leaders, and ya' know when it really comes down to what United Way’s mission is, they are meeting it. They promote self sufficiency, change lives, create positive change - that is what the Girl Scouts are doing. Taking young girls, and in some cases, older ladies who have never been involved that are becoming troop leaders. They are teaching them life skills and making change. A girl that goes through Girl Scouts is a better learner, a better student, better behaved, has life skills that allow her to build character and integrity and all those things that are so vital as you’re growing up to learn.

It's like Lucille said: They are helping people develop those leadership skills so that they can make better decisions.

I really enjoyed that visit, learning what they are doing, creating lasting change is what they are doing.

Blog ya' soon,
Dave Bennett

P.S. I gotta' say it was great to see Sherry Harris. She's with Girl Scouts now, and she used to work with us over at the courthouse.

Behind the Scenes: The Funny Video

2007-09-05T16:35:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody,

The response to the funny video has been tremendous. [If ya' wanna' watch it now, just scroll down to the other entry.] We had 355 hits the first day it was posted, and so far, the blog's had almost 200 hits since then. People are findin' this thing, and that's just great.

I thought I'd share some HILARIOUS pictures that United Way took behind the scenes. I promise this'll be my last post about the funny video, but some of these pictures were too good to leave off the blog.

I hope y'all enjoyed this glimpse behind the scenes of the funny video. I'll blog more serious stuff soon. I still gotta' comment on a couple of visits we made to a few community partners.

Blog ya' soon,
Dave Bennett

Watch the United Way Funny Video NOW!

2007-08-30T16:53:00.001-04:00

Hey y'all,

Aaron Killian at United Way worked some magic and posted "The Kick-Off" - the funny video from the campaign kickoff breakfast. (This one has an alternate ending with a couple of surprise guests, y'all!)

The video's in three parts: part one, part two, and the bloopers. I hope y'all enjoy it!

Part One

Part Two

The Bloopers

Y'all can even download the videos to your iPod or Sony PSP if ya' got 'em. (Sorry, Bryan Daniels!)

Just follow the links below, and on the right side of the screen, just click "Download":

The Kick-Off: Part One
The Kick-Off: Part Two
The Kick-Off: Bloopers

Go there and click that and save it wherever you save videos for your Video iPod, and you'll be good to go.

If you have problems downloading the file, call Aaron at United Way because this computer stuff is beyond me. Their number is 982-2251, or you can email him at .

I gotta' say I was really impressed with the funny video this year. With the help of United Way's Aaron Killian and Mike Wiseman of Charter, they put together an incredible, hilarious video, and I've had tons of people come up and tell me they loved it. I hope y'all love it, too.

It was amazing to come out together at the breakfast with that cabinet after the funny video. That whole team is wonderful: Denny and Cindy Mayes, John Hinkle, Fred and Carolyn Forster, Kevin Clayton, Boyce Smith, David Conner, Bryan Daniels, Andy White, Brenda Pilson, Joe Dawson, Joe Huff, Melissa Copelan, Brickey Beasley, Cathy Cate, Mike Lewis, Julie Talbott, Lea Anne Law, Tom Hatcher. They're all great, and even though some folks couldn't be there at the kick-off, like John Hinkle, Joe Huff, and Fred and Carolyn Forster, they were all there in spirit (and on the video).

Well, it's time to go to work on this campaign now. It's awesome. We've raised $564,465, which means we're a quarter of the way there. And I'd like to be all the way there in four weeks. Then we can work on goin' over.

Blog y'all later,
Dave Bennett

Second Harvest

2007-08-24T17:03:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody,

The other day we toured Second Harvest, and I got to meet Tom von Berg out there.

It really opened my eyes - I thought Second Harvest did food drives and that’s it. Food drives and people went and got food there. What they really do is they distribute food to agencies and pantry’s that are able to distribute to hundreds of people. They are almost like a United Way for food.

I tell ya, as we talked with them and learned about their operation there were two things I left with. Number one, there are 100,000 people they feed annually, not just in Blount County – but all over east Tennessee. But there are still 100,000 people in the same area going hungry because there is a need for 200,000, but they are only able to meet the need for 100,000 because of money, space and time. But what is happening to those other 100,000 people?

The other thing I learned is that they are a very efficient operation. Only about 5% of the fundraising goes to fund the staff. The rest goes to deliverables to the customers. And that’s important. They are watching their dollars and they are not overspending them. They are spending the money on their mission. For every dollar that comes in, they can feed four people a meal. That just blows my mind – that all it takes is a $1 to feed a family of four one meal a day.

Tom also told us that Second Harvest has been giving more food to Blount County than Blount County has been contributing to their operation. They're runnin' a deficit over here, and I was surprised to hear about it. With them being in Knoxville, they are taking money from all different areas to help other counties. They help 19 counties! But the bottom line is Blount County needs to be taking care of Blount County. We need to look at that and address it – be able to raise the dollars and take care of the need. They’re obviously looking at that, but at the same time, not cutting us off so I appreciate that.

Tom was telling us the food drives are great, but monetary donations can be stretched more because of their buying power. I mean I think they are thankful for any donations. But we can't ignore that they have the ability to buy food cheaper than we can. A $3 can of peanut butter is a great donation, but they can buy 3 for $1. So that $1 donation to Second Harvest will go a lot further than a donation of one can of peanut butter. Of course, a gift is a gift though.

Well, I better go for now. Remember kick-off is next week, and you're all invited. (Just RSVP at 982-2251 or email uwbc@unitedwayblount.org by Tuesday.) We'll see y'all there! August 30th, 7:30 AM at the Airport Hilton.

Blog ya' later,
Dave Bennett

Funny Video Shooting: Part Two

2007-08-21T16:51:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody,

Here it is part two of the funny video blog.

I'll tell ya' one thing: it was hotter than Hades out there. We had the whole campaign cabinet out there, and shooting just went wonderfully. Thank you to Charter and Mike Wiseman, for their patience with a bunch of rookies (except for David Dwyer, of course). For you movie buffs, yes, the same David Dwyer that was in We Are Marshall, Remember the Titans, Runaway Jury, and October Sky. But David Dwyer makes a special appearance in the video. I also want to send a special thank you to George Quarles. Not going to say anything else without giving away too much. Ah, I will show a picture or two.

But it was great fun to do those team-building exercises for the campaign, and it let us let off a little steam – which was needed in these dog days of summer. I think everyone is in for a special treat. As I said in part 1 of this blog, this thing is going to be hilarious. If you can’t tell by those legs I posted before, this is going to be funny. You just wait until the Kick-Off on August 30, and I’d say you better sign up early because the house is going to fill up just to see the members of this campaign make fools of ourselves.

As for the bloopers? I have no comment on the bloopers – other than I didn’t do it! That’s a computer generated Dave Bennett used in those bloopers. And that’s all I got to say.

Well, y'all, August 30th is the Kick-Off, and it’s time to step up and raise money for United Way. We're ready!

Blog ya' soon,
Dave Bennett

Funny Video Shooting: Part Two Coming Soon...

2007-08-15T15:12:00.001-04:00

Hey everybody,

I wanted to let you know I hadn't forgotten about the blog. I've just been busier than a one-legged man in a butt-kickin' contest.

Just to whet your appetite, here's a picture from the funny video shoot last week:

That oughtta' keep everybody's curiosity goin'!

I won't say anything more until part two. Stay tuned...

Blog y'all soon,
Dave Bennett

Funny Video Shooting: Part One

2007-08-09T16:50:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody,

Shooting on the not-so-serious video wrapped up yesterday, and I'll make this blog kinda' a two-parter so that I can cover it all.

Mike Wiseman from Charter Media shoots
a scene with me and Julie Talbott.

Last week, we shot a couple of scenes in my office and other scenes at an undisclosed location. (I ain't about to give away any details on this thing. Y'all will have to wait for kick-off if you want to know.) But last week we had two good days of shootin', and we did two more days this week. Luckily, nobody had to go to the hospital with any injuries – other than maybe mental injuries.

I'm really appreciative to Rural Metro. They brought a couple of ambulances out for the shoot last week. And they were gracious enough to be a part of the video, which shows their sense of community. I want to thank Ron and Misty Parker and the EMT's (Charity Gentry, Cindy Murphy, Travis Brown, and Scott Potter) who came. It was a nice touch, and it added a lot to the video.

Shooting was a lot of fun, and that funny video introduces the campaign cabinet on kick-off. And I've put together a group of people I'm friends with and people I enjoy being with, but they're hard workers in the community, too. But we had a little fun letting off a little steam. Joe Dawson and Andy White came out last week to shoot, and they had a blast.

I will say this: I believe it is the funniest video United Way's ever done – even funnier than Joe Ingram's U-Man, Gaynelle Lawson's Harley-ridin' boxer Rocky chick, Jim Worienicki's Nascar racin', Larry Aldridge's Lariat Larry, Mike Lewis' Mission Possible, and Greg McClain's Blues Brothers.

But man, we had a lot of fun shootin' this thing! I can't wait for y'all to see it.

Blog you soon,
Dave Bennett

The Florence Crittenton Agency

2007-08-02T15:28:00.000-04:00

Hello everybody,

We visited with Cile at the Florence Crittenton Agency, and the folks at Florence Crittenton work mostly with troubled teenage girls and their families. I tell ya', my initial reaction was very similar to the Helen Ross McNabb's Gateway Center where they work with the young boys: it's just heartbreaking.

Cile talked about these girls, some as young as 12 and 13 years old, that have been victims of abuse – child abuse, sexual abuse, some of them are pregnant. It’s absolutely unbelievable that it happens. These kids need to be loved and nurtured and what some of these kids have gone through is just terrible.

Here is an agency that is helping kids put their lives back together. You’ve got these young girls and their lives have just totally crumbled – totally fallen apart – and a lot of times they're left out there on the street to fend for themselves. But they don’t have any ability to pick themselves back up because they weren't raised with those tools. The Florence Crittenton Agency is helping them with those skills. First thing to picking them back up is just being there for them and telling them it’s going to be okay. Second you give them the tools to get back out there in the real world. I liked the fact they get the family involved, too, because they need to learn.

I think one of the key things we talked about during our visit was these kids are part of a culture and their parents are abusing them and their parents probably abused them, and so on. And typically the abused become abusers. But when you break that cycle, it changes generations. These girls will become mothers – some of them very soon, but Florence Crittenton Agency breaks that cycle so that their children don’t become a part of that cycle of abuse.

It's like United Way says you got to get to that root cause, and it may be years before we see the effects, but for every life they touch at Florence Crittenton it’s a life that's changed for the better. And ultimately I think that’s what United Way is all about – empowering people to give them the ability to take care of themselves.

I continue to be amazed with the people that are out there with the serving hearts that work in these agencies. Ya' know you don't become the director of The Florence Crittenton Agency because you want to be in a high powered position. That’s a tremendous job that Cile’s doing because it’s in her nature – in her heart that she’s doing something she loves. It’s probably some of the most important work someone could ever do. But we have these people working hard and that’s what life is all about – helping other folks.

Blog you soon!
Dave Bennett

P.S. We're workin' on the funny video, so I'll be bloggin' about that soon!

Boy Scouts of America

2007-07-27T16:42:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody,

I got to visit with Ken from the Boy Scouts, and that was great because I have a personal history with the Boy Scouts. I was a member of the Boy Scouts when I was a young boy.

I remember camping, and I’ll tell you, Boy Scouts is an incredible character builder. It helps teach them those values that we all need. It’s one of those things where you just learn without even knowing that you're learning it. They give you life lessons so that when that when you're in a situation that really challenges you, you've got the skills to cope and handle the problems.

I remember one time at camp when I went to earn my life saving merit badge. They had us jump in the water fully clothed, and I had to take my pants off and tie a knot in them and turn them into a makeshift life preserver right there. Then we had to swim a mile, and for a kid swimming a mile without touching the shore is a heck of a thing.

We’d go camping for a week every year – leave on a Sunday and come back the next Saturday. It was a load of fun. I learned how to cook, learned how to start a fire, and learned how to live outside. Two nights out of the week we’d sleep completely outside. It didn’t matter whether it was raining or not. They’d take our sleeping bags and take us back in the woods and leave us, and we’d have to make our way back to camp by ourselves – just kids! No tent, no nothing! We had our sleeping bag and that was it – for two days. But, man, was it a lot of fun, and I learned a lot.

I know the kids’ lives are touched. The Boy Scouts gives these boys life lessons. They teach them how to be men, and I know they're giving them experiences that'll carry them through the rest of their lives.

Well, y'all have a good weekend.

Blog ya' later,
Dave Bennett

The Gateway Center

2007-07-24T10:09:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone,

We recently visited with Jennifer at the Gateway Center of Helen Ross McNabb. I didn't know exactly what they did out there before this visit. I mean I had heard of the Gateway Center and knew it was there and it used to be the Werner Center. But they’re treating alcohol and drug dependent adolescents 13 – 18 years old boys. Number one, it kinda' stops you in your tracks to learn there are 13 year old boys that are dependent on alcohol and drugs. It makes you stand back, and you realize how shocking it is.

At the Gateway Center they’re helping these kids break that dependency and get back into citizenship with a new attitude and the ability to cope. As Jennifer was telling us, they empower them with different coping abilities to be able to handle the problems that they have that have pushed them into the drug or alcohol abuse. You know you hear them talk about the root causes of the problems in our community, and some of it is family attitudes. Jennifer said that some of them come from a family where they sit around and smoke pot together. I mean, that’s just astonishing. When you really sit down and think about it, it breaks your heart that a kid is in a situation where they see their parents turn to drugs or alcohol to cope with life. You know that kid is going to grow up and think that’s the right thing to do when life gets 'em down.

From a United Way standpoint, we try to break that cycle and then that child, when he becomes a father, he’s not doing that to his kid and ultimately finally breaks it. Parents need to be dealt with accordingly, obviously through the legal system if that sort of stuff is going on, but the kids need to be taught how to cope with life on their own.

One thing they're doing out there is trying to teach the kids life skills, too. They have to wash their clothes, keep their rooms clean, and the center works on an award system. If you do something right, you get special privileges. If you don't do what your supposed to, those privileges are taken away.

I have to commend Jennifer and her staff over there for giving these kids a chance. They wouldn't have the chance to succeed without these programs that can intervene.

Blog ya' soon,
Dave Bennett

American Heart Association

2007-07-20T15:31:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody,

We visited with the American Heart Association, and that was an agency near and dear to my heart – no pun intended.

I pretty much knew what they did already before we went in there with my recent open heart surgery. I think the American Heart Association as far as what they’re doing is tremendous.

Heart disease is the number one killer of women in America, and that association is saving lives everyday with the research that they are funding. With me personally, the pig valves they used was the direct result of American Heart Association’s research that learned that the valves of pigs were the same size as human valves. They cultivated those hearts in order to get the valves, and today hundreds of thousands of surgeries are performed annually just to replace heart valves. It’s one of those things that I am very personally aware of. Without it, I wouldn’t be here today to blog about it.

Of course, like a lot of things we see with these visits, a lot of it is about prevention. There are some cases where the problems with the heart are because of genetics or congenital defects. But most everything else comes back to lifestyle. Whether it be your eating habits or lifestyle habits – whatever they are. One of the big things that I learned, my diet, my ability to handle stress, all of those things were affecting my blood pressure.

I’m not doing as good as I should, but my diet is much better than it was. You’ve got to eat right, watch your cholesterol, and watch your blood pressure. Hopefully, then you won't need the research that's been done at the Heart Association, but if you ever do, thank God they're there!

Blog you soon,
Dave Bennett

Epilepsy Foundation of East Tennessee

2007-07-18T12:19:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone,

We visited with Lynn and Paula with the Epilepsy Foundation of East Tennessee, and I gotta' tell ya' it was an eye-opening experience. They were very informative, and they really opened up my mind to some of the misconceptions I had about epilepsy.

I didn't know epilepsy wasn't a disease. Like they were telling us, it's an episodic occurrence from mainly head injuries. (I think they said somewhere around 85% of epilepsy patients developed epilepsy from a head injury they received.)

I had no idea.

I remember in high school there was a guy there who had epilepsy, and he'd have seizures every once in a while. And it wasn't that I was afraid of him. But we were all afraid of hurting him. We wouldn't let him play football with us, and a lot of people treated him differently - like he had a disease they could catch.

I just gotta' thank Lynn and Paula for opening up my eyes because really once you get over the fear of epilepsy and understand what's going on, you realize they're just people coping with a condition.

And Lynn and Paula really trying to get out there and educate the public so that we can cut through the fear. They're giving bike helmets to kids. They're going to high schools to give talks to kids about epilepsy. They're communicating with the public, and that helps make a tremendous impact in our community.

Well, I better go for now. I just had to share some of that visit with y'all.

Blog ya' soon,
Dave Bennett

Bring It On: The United Way Golf Tournament

2007-07-16T09:24:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody,

I’m famous! Mike Lewis and I did a commercial for the golf tournament a few weeks ago, and Charter’s starting to air it.

I tell ya’ it was nice to actually film something where they didn’t turn the light on the camera and stick the microphone in my face and say, “What’s your comment, Mr. Bennett?”

But the shoot was a lot of fun. Mike obviously has a lot of fun with that camera stuff. I learned a lot from him – he’s a pro. But we had a good time making the commercial.

That golf committee, chaired by Mike Lewis, has worked so hard, and we appreciate all that they’ve done. They’re doing a tremendous job. It’ll get this campaign started off the right way. That’s the first big thing we do in the campaign, and it helps raise so much money. It’s gonna’ be a great day on August 6th, and we can go out there and tee it up for United Way.

Of course, we need all the volunteers to work the tournament we can get. If you want to get involved, just get in touch with them at 982-2251 or click here to send them an email.

I need to go out there and see if I’m able to swing. I haven’t been able to get out on the golf course since my heart surgery. But if I’m able to play, let me say for the record: my team will win! We have experience with different types of tournaments, and we typically win. Even if we have to bend the rules, my team will be victorious. And if you doubt that, all I’ve got to say to the other golfers in Blount County is BRING IT ON!

Blog ya' soon,
Dave Bennett

Big Brothers Big Sisters

2007-07-13T16:14:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody,

The other day we met with the Big Brother Big Sisters. What a program they have over there. We met two kids and their big sisters. These girls are in need of companionship and role models with other ladies, and through Big Brothers Big Sisters, these kids receive the mentoring and quality time they wouldn’t have with an adult otherwise.

These kids are getting the nourishment they need from adults that they may not get from home for whatever reason – maybe the parents have a couple jobs to keep the family going or whatever. Big Brothers Big Sisters fills in the gap that’s left there, and I could tell from those folks that they have a lot of involvement with the kids as they grow up.

We were talking about some of the problems they have and how there are myths out there that you have to have all kinds of time and you have to be this “perfect” upstanding citizen to take part in the program. But let me tell ya’: ain’t none of us perfect. It’s how you deal with those problems that could really teach these kids. It’s a shame more folks don’t take part in their program. Right now they’ve got a waiting list of fourteen boys in Blount County who could use a Big Brother.

But it doesn’t take a whole bunch of time to be a Big Brother or a Big Sister. They said if a person takes part in the school program of Big Brothers Big Sisters, it’s an hour commitment a week, and if someone wants to do the community program through them it’s a two hour commitment per week. It’s not a lot, but an hour here and an hour there really adds up to these kids.

It could mean all the world to them.

Well, y'all have a good weekend.

Blog ya’ soon,
Dave Bennett

Blount County Rescue Squad

2007-07-05T09:02:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody,

We recently visited with Capt. Patrick McGinley at the Blount County Rescue Squad. I worked a lot with the Rescue Squad before we visited because of my relationship with the County and all of the things that I have been involved in. Those folks at the Rescue Squad are all volunteers – dedicated folks. There are 32 of them that are very dedicated in providing their time for free to the squad to respond to car wrecks, water rescue and other rescue situations.

The Rescue Squad was created back in the 50’s to provide those services to the community, and my hat’s off to them because they volunteer their time, services, and knowledge – to save lives.

Capt. McGinley was talking about how they’ve set up a post to deal with wrecks at The Dragon just to increase response time. The Dragon is a huge draw to this community, and this time of year you just have wreck after wreck up there. Every weekend my pager goes off three or four times where there’s been a wreck on the Dragon, and the fire department, sheriff’s department, rural metro, and the rescue squad are responding to those wrecks. I don’t think there’s been a weekend gone by in the last two months that there hasn’t been at least one wreck on the Dragon. It’s a sign of the times, in that we got so many people riding that thing, and with that kinda’ frequency, they have to post somebody up there to make those calls.

When it comes down to it, they are saving lives. What value can you put on that? It’s priceless. There isn’t a value you can put on a life.

The Rescue Squad provides an invaluable service to Blount County, and that's the bottom line.

Blog you soon,
Dave Bennett

Campaign Goal!

2007-06-29T12:48:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody,

I'm excited to announce we've finally set a campaign goal: $2.15 million. You read that right: $2,150,000. That's about a five percent increase over last year, but I know we can handle it.

The United Way Board of Directors approved it, and now we gotta' get out there and raise it!

Settin' the goal was a relatively easy to process to work with. Our campaign cabinet first met and decided on what we felt like the goal should be. We talked about big numbers, small numbers, whether to continue where we’re going. We ultimately decided together that $2,150,000 was that number we felt we could raise and that could truly make an impact. We took it to the board and they graciously approved it after a few questions about whether we could raise that money because obviously the board wants us to be set up to be able to succeed. The board’s vote of confidence in the campaign cabinet - in the team that’s been put together - says that they’ve got the faith in them to raise that money.

So, here we are with a goal of $2.15 million. Last year, the campaign goal was $2 million, and we were able to meet and go above it. This year, we plan on doing the same!

Hang on, everybody! It's gonna' be a fast ride!

Blog you later,
Dave Bennett

East Tennessee Technology Access Center

2007-06-27T10:24:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody,

We recently had a terrific visit with Lois and Lorrie from the East Tennessee Technology Access Center. They take items and use technology to make the item accessible to folks with disabilities – everything from children’s toys to computer keyboards to even something as simple as a spatula.

They work young, old, and everyone in between. They just use technology to better people’s lives.

Lois told us a story about one gentleman they worked with who was totally dependent on his family. He walked in there with three dreams: he wanted to read, he wanted to get a job, and he wanted to live on his own. Now he’s working in a library, and he’s out on his own. How good a story is that? And it’s not like someone’s out there just constantly helping him – he’s doing all that by himself now. And the Technology Access Center gave him the tools he needed so that his disabilities were no longer disabling. At the end of the day, that’s probably the best story I’ve heard yet. They took someone who was totally dependent and made him totally self-sufficient, and that’s what life ought to be about. And that’s what United Way is all about.

I also got the chance to meet with Tommy who works for ETTAC as a sign language instructor.

He is hearing impaired and has lost most of his sight, but with the help of a computer I was able to have a conversation with him. Now that was one of my favorite things we’ve done so far on these tours. We were just sitting there having a conversation, and it was just very heart-warming to me that we were able to do that. And I wasn’t even thinking about the technology. I was just enjoying sitting there talking to him. It’s like the technology wasn’t even there, and we were laughing via the keyboard. Of course, with my big mouth, I’m talking to Lois while I’m typing to Tommy, and I somehow got the computer all screwed up! Then Tommy had to turn around and tell me to get my hands off the keyboard so that he could fix what I did. Me and my big mouth!

Lois also told us about an Equipment Recycling Program where they take in equipment and can modify it for the disabled. If you have a piece of technology that you’re getting rid of, instead of taking it to the dump, take it to ETTAC, where they can modify it to assist somebody with a disability and get the item back out to the community to someone who could really use it.

This week is Deaf-Blind Awareness Week, and this visit sure did make me aware. To celebrate, they’re inviting all families out to:

KIDSFEST: A Celebration of Children’s Art and Music

It's gonna' be this Saturday at Ijams Nature Center from 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM, and it ought to be a blast.

Have a good one, y’all.

Blog you soon,
Dave Bennett