HeartLine 2-1-1 Day

I was fortunate enough to be accepted into Leadership Oklahoma City Young Adult Leader's (LOYAL) Class IV. As part of LOYAL, we are put into small groups of 10 and then given a non-profit in the Oklahoma City area that needs our help. This called our LOYAL Action Project or LAP. I guess this organization likes acronyms.

My LAP was HeartLine 2-1-1, which is a great organization that provides help, hope and information to Central Oklahomans 24 hours a day, 365 days a year through compassionate listening and an amazing referral program. HeartLine is the best first call to make if you are ever in need of help.

Our project was to help raise awareness for HeartLine 2-1-1. We began working immediately in November and haven't slowed down since. Today was the culmination of all our hard work. Governor Brad Henry issued a state proclamation naming February 11 as HeartLine 2-1-1 Day. As a result, we planned a press conference in the Capitol Blue Room with the First Lady and Mayor Cornett. In addition, Bob Spinks, president and CEO of United Way, Dr. Powitsky of HeartLine 2-1-1 as well as a caring call specialist with HeartLine 2-1-1 also participated in the press conference. The purpose of the press conference was to raise awareness and to encourage the public to donate $2.11.

The press conference was well-attended and the most exciting announcement came from Bob Spinks. He pledged, on behalf of United Way, to match any donations made to HeartLine 2-1-1 today up to $5,000! As soon as he made that announcement, the crowd broke out in cheers. It was amazing!

Here are some photos from the press conference.

Yeah, that's me and Mayor Cornett going through the run of show. He is probably one of the coolest, most media-savvy elected officials around. He is always so easy to work with and I love that he doesn't have to have an entire entourage everywhere he goes. Thanks, Mayor for being a part of HeartLine 2-1-1 Day. On a side note, I learned that Cherry Coke Zero is the official beverage of the Mayor's office.

Whereas, First Lady Kim Henry reading the State Proclamation
(you'll get it if you've read a state proclamation)
Talk about a sweet, caring and kind lady. This was the first time I have ever met the First Lady and I was so impressed. She was so gracious and so genuine, I actually wanted to know if she would be interested in grabing a drink afterward but I knew she was busy and I had to get back to the office. Maybe next time?

Here is a group shot of all of our presenters and VIPs. Left to right: Janet Riggan with HeartLine, Bob Spinks with United Way, Mayor Cornett, Amanda Wrede with HeartLine, Tom Taylor with HeartLine, the First Lady, Dr. Powitsky with HeartLine and Lori Linstead with 2-1-1.

And there is team awesome. That's my LAP team (minus Lacey) and I love these guys! They all worked so hard to make this day happen. We've all gotten really close over the past few months and I'm sure we've made friendships that will last a lifetime. Now, we all just want to celebrate.