When was the last time You were part of a Miracle?

I love miracles, don’t you? I was part of an unexpected miracle last Thursday. Lisa and I met with the board at Sugarhouse Park to get the No More Secrets Walk approved. Lisa is the woman who created the vision of A Healing Place, the monument to children which we hope to build in the heart of Salt Lake City.

The No More Secrets Walk is a family friendly walk designed to create awareness about child abuse and to encourage families to protect and nurture kids. This is also an event where we can introduce the plans for the monument and begin to build support and excitement for A Healing Place. We plan to hold this walk on April 17 in Sugarhouse Park. April is the perfect time, because it is Child Abuse Prevention month.

Since we are beginners at this kind of thing, we didn’t know what to expect. I filled out the paperwork and got us a spot on the agenda for the board meeting. We were glad that we were not first, so that we could see the process in action before we were in the spotlight. We watched others with similar events get effortlessly approved. This didn’t look hard.

Surprisingly, when it was our turn, we met with instant disapproval. Not a single board member voiced anything positive about our walk to prevent child abuse. How could this be?

I’m sure their disapproval was not related to our cause. They seemed mostly concerned about us not having non-profit status. Without a non-profit organization backing us, would be able to get sponsors and insurance? Without a non-profit organization, could they be sure we weren’t just going to pocket the money?

Pocket the money? What money? We aren’t entirely sure there will be enough money to cover expenses, let alone something to pocket. If we do come out ahead we will begin a fund for the monument. That would be thrilling.

Without non-profit status, they would have to treat our walk as a commercial venture. They would have to charge us more. Commercial? Are you kidding me?

Another issue was that we are charging a small registration fee to participate in the walk. The charge will cover the cost of the t-shirts, and not much more. $5.00 for children, $10.00 for adults, or $25.00 for a family. In addition to t-shirts we hope to provide water, hot dogs, cotton candy, prizes, and entertainment. We can only do this if we get some great sponsor participation.

After all this negative talk, we couldn’t imagine a way to turn things around, but a miracle happened. One board member had a sudden unexplained change of heart and moved to approve our walk. I don’t know what changed his mind. Maybe he just wanted to keep the meeting moving. He asked for a second to his motion. Dead silence. The silence was uncomfortable and stretched on for what felt like a long time. Finally a second board member reluctantly moved to second the motion. The final vote was four to five, and our walk was approved. A miracle.

Lisa and I floated out of the meeting wondering what had just happened.

Will you be part of our miracle?

Will you walk with us on April 17? Will you volunteer to help us organize the walk? Do you know organizations that can sponsor us? Will you help us advertise? Can you help us find a non-profit organization that will let us use their name and status?

A meeting for volunteers will be held this Thursday evening (Feb 18) at 7:00. We could use your help. Call me at 801-571-6699 or email garners@xmission.com for meeting details.

When was the last time you were part of a miracle?

Linda Garner