I am organizing Motion's American Heart Association Heart Walk Campaign in 2025 for a multitude of reasons. My family has a history of heart disease. I remember visiting my grandfather in recovery after his open heart surgery. I don’t know his age at the time, but my guess is that we were given 30 more years, or so, with him because of the medical treatment available to him. Fast forward many years. My dad had a heart attack that required stents. He is with us today and doing well because of the medical advancements made available to him. I have a family with whom I desire to grow old, but it doesn’t just happen. We all have to take more control of our health while we can. I will use this campaign to get moving more. My weight doesn’t exactly match what is on my driver’s license, nor does my hair color for that matter! I'm serving as Motion HQ coach and coach to the coaches, as we have turned this into a National campaign at Motion. We are raising funds and awareness and recruiting walkers. We also honor two specific co-workers (and there are other colleagues with their own stories) that are inspirational survivors, my good friends Hal Midkiff and Ray Badbaldon. You can view and be inspired by their stories by watching the video on this page. It is worth your time!
I'd also like you to see the very recent story of my good friend, Dan Boatman (43). Dan is the Pastor of Mt. Pleasant Christian Church and the Founder of Mt. Pleasant Christian School, where my kids attend school. He is also my middle daughter's basketball coach.
(Copy and paste this link to see his story) https://www.wbrc.com/2025/02/06/i-was-walking-heart-attack-i-didnt-even-realize-it-43-year-old-pastor-receives-open-heart-surgery-that-saved-his-life/
We are very thankful for what modern medical procedures can do, and that Dan is doing so well!
Motion, as well as our parent company, GPC, has a strong culture of “Giving Back”, and I want to be one of the many champions that keeps that a consistent point of focus within our organization. We want to work with others that share this value of being good corporate citizens in our respective communities. You never know when someone very close to you will be the next benefactor or beneficiary of the cause that you support. I also enjoy good, healthy competition…with sportsmanship, of course! in 2021, I was able to rank as the #1 individual fundraiser for the AHA in Birmingham, on the #1 fundraising team in Birmingham, and our company ranked #2 as the highest fundraising company in Birmingham. In 2022, I was privileged to serve on the ELT and rank as the #2 fundraiser for the AHA in Birmingham, and Motion was the top fundraiser, once again. I served on the ELT again in 2023 and 2024, making this a national campaign. Collectively, we can have greater impact that literally has world-wide implications. Motion was the #1 fundraiser for the HeartWalk event both years, raising over $71K in 2023 and over $90K in 2024! We have been the top fundraiser for this worthy cause 10 out of the last 12 years, and my manager, Billy Hamilton, SVP Human Resources at Motion is serving as the 2025 Birmingham HeartWalk Chairman. That is a testament to the type of people with whom I work and representative of the values of our organization. We want to bring home the trophy again this year, not for our accolades, but to be invested in the betterment of our communities and literally save lives! Thank you for your consideration in joining me in supporting such a worthy cause.
