Sometimes we all get so caught up in the day-to-day things of our life, our jobs and everything else going on in the world that we have to remember to just stop for a minute and focus on the things that really matter.
And as we head towards Thanksgiving later this month I’m reminded that giving thanks and focusing on gratitude are things we all could do a little more of. What got me thinking about all of this were two recent events I’ve been involved with that are all about gratitude.
The first was the news that The H Foundation had been selected as the recipient of the Hearts Awards being presented in January at the annual ARTS Award Gala. Their 22nd Annual Goombay Bash Gala in July raised $1.1 million for cancer research, which is pretty remarkable. If you don’t know the story behind this event it was started by a few friends, including one of our retail lighting showroom owners, John Rot. John decided to make a difference in the fight against cancer and launched this casual Caribbean-style festival 22 years ago. It now hosts over 1,000 guests at Chicago’s Navy Pier every July and has become an incredible fundraising event for cancer research.
The second event was the inaugural Cody Johnson Roping Event Gala, in Belton, TX a few weeks ago. The beneficiaries were the Texas FFA as well as Different Day, a non-profit focused on building futures for survivors of human trafficking, supported by Cody’s wife, Brandi. I was there and saw they more than $719,000. There were also silent and live auctions, but most importantly an incredible Clint Orms story. Clint and Roxie Orms own Clint Orms Engravers & Silversmiths which has a showroom on the 14th Floor of the World Trade Center here. Clint donated a pistol and custom Clint Orms pistol grips made of gold, silver and diamonds to the live auction. When the item came up for bid Clint was called up on stage and he spoke about working with the winner to create a custom design. Bidding quickly hit $100,000 with two people bidding against each other. That’s when Clint said he would do two sets for two winners and he ended up raising $200,000 for the charity. It was an amazing moment.
Things like this, not to mention the generosity of our buyers and exhibitors over the years through events like Gift for Life and many others, really hit home for me. We all have a lot to be grateful for and I personally am grateful for all of our buyers, exhibitors, showroom staff, industry participants and our own DMC staff that support us and help us bring buyer and seller together.
Yes, we tend to think about giving thanks and gratitude a little bit more at this time of the year but it’s something all of us could focus on all year round. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and, by the way, thanks for reading.
Cindy Morris,
CEO, Dallas Market Center
