Memorable mail from: Al Haynes

Local celeb brags on Columbus’s generosity

Since being asked if I would like to write an article about things happening around our town, I felt, “what an honor!” That is, until I sat down and figured out I’m not a journalist. Oops! But, you know, we live in a city where there is so much benevolence that reporting about some of it doesn’t take a degree in journalism. I mean, it’s within reach to become the leader of the greatest country in the world without even taking a single political science course!

I was talking to my friend Scott Ferguson (President and CEO) of the United Way about how it took less than one year to fundraise over 7 million dollars, and I asked him, how did he and his staff do it? His response was simple. He said: generosity! The generosity of the people in this community is outstanding. The work that “service-providers” and those who contribute are the best there is. He is not wrong. I’ve seen it week after week, year after year.

In just the last few weeks before writing this piece, Columbus has had a few really great fundraising events, including Relay for Life to benefit the American Cancer Society, March for Babies for the March of Dimes, and the list goes on.

But one event that really knocked my socks off was the Dancing Stars of Columbus, which benefited the Alzheimer’s Association. The event took place at the Rivermill Event Center on April 21. We had twelve couples who all knew how to dance really well, had “attitude” (which, when it comes to dancing, is on level with skill), and they were all costumed. It was an extremely close contest with four perfect scores; however, they were all winners because of the effort they gave.

It was a great night of entertainment that culminated a less than three-month fundraising “adventure” with a stated goal of $304,000. The food, decorations, etc were second to none. The organizers, dancers, spectators and judges (Patti Hasting, Brett Maddocks and myself) all had a wonderful time. Total money raised was over $359,000—in less than four months!

I’m running out of time, but I have a lot more to share, and will later!

See you in the streets,

Al Haynes