A word of warning….
This isn’t your typical “Security World” blog post! This post has more to do with this world we are living in — a world where we have the opportunity to impact lives both positively and negatively, and make a difference.
It has always meant a lot to me that us “Garland Groupers” are not your typical auditors. (And that’s a good thing!) I enjoy seeing the relationships we build with our clients, and having the opportunity to build my own. If you know me personally, then you know that I have the stigma of being one of the “talkers” of the group (or so I have been told!).
One of the great things we are encouraged to do at Garland Group is to not be afraid to interact with our clients on a personal level. If we see an opportunity to impact our clients in a positive way, we have been given the go-ahead to do so. It can be anything from a hug, to a card, or just using the time it takes to simply listen to a client’s story and possibly lend a helping hand. One of our clients has a wonderful story and is doing her part in making an impact on her own.
First, a little background on the story:
Her son, Calin, was born with Down Syndrome and is a really awesome little dude. I have heard many great stories about him (and his brother, Traevin) as well as some of the hardships that come with raising a child with his set of circumstances. Last year, Tracy and her husband Calvin created “Calin’s Casino Night” to raise money and awareness for children with Down Syndrome. Once they saw how successful it was, they decided to make it an annual event. With the help of their co-worker Whitney, the second annual casino night was held not too long ago, and many of the client’s employees pitched in to donate time, food, and money to support the night. It was great to see co-workers so excited and eager to help (much like when we come onsite with y’all!).
All kidding aside, it was great to see folks get energized to help and support such a wonderful cause. Some of us Garland Group guys asked what we could do to help and what was still needed to make the night a success. We were told they still needed prizes since that is the hardest thing for them to acquire and is the fuel needed to acquire donations. I was quickly given approval from our company to provide prizes, and to go deliver them in person. I wasn’t expecting to be given this opportunity and was immediately excited to get to do this.
The night was an absolute blast and when reporting back to my Garland Group family what happened, I expressed how much I was personally impacted more than I could have ever imagined. The joy and fun that I hadin being a part of that event and knowing it was for a great group of people and one awesome little man called Calin, made it truly special. To top it all off, when I arrived I was presented with a framed picture of Calin holding up a banner thanking us! This will be proudly displayed in our office (once I take it off my wall)…not to show what was done, but to remind us of the amazing opportunities we are given, and the pure joy that life offers us.
Our goal as a company is to try and impact people’s lives in some small way. To show that we are not there just to make a buck or check the boxes during an audit. These opportunities reflect the true core values within the Garland Group, but also show what the service industry should be about. We don’t want to be an average company delivering an average service. We want to be a company that impacts people’s lives in a positive way.
To wrap up this story, let me say that when Calin’s Casino Night was over, they had more than doubled what they raised last year (about $3600.) To gain some perspective, a ticket or donation was $25 and there were about 60 people there — twice as many as last year. That is a lot of generous people working together to create an impact for Calin…but also for a great cause!
I can only hope that we were able to impact Calin’s life, as well as all of our client’s, as much as I was impacted during my visits leading up to and during Calin’s Casino Night. I can not wait for next year’s event!