One of the best parts of my job especially at this point in my career is having the ability to give back in some really cool ways. To have the opportunity to make a difference in someones life is a very special thing and one that I am proud to be in a position to do. Whether it’s going to Walter Reed or racing for a children’s hospital or just being able to help out with some words of encouragement to a fan at the track I truly believe giving back is the best part of what I do. So when I was approached to help with a local charity here in Tallahassee that I was told would help local families I was all for it. ECHO is a special group of people and I learned first hand after I agreed to help out how much they really do. Keith Gaskins and Jim Harrison, a couple of ECHO’s board members, were kind enough to tour me around ECHO’s locations. It was amazing to me to see how many people they could positively affect with so few resources.

After my day with the people of ECHO I was even more excited to get to work and see what we could do to help make their jobs easier and increase the reach of the charity into our community. The first year turned out great especially on the short notice we had but last years event really got us on track and now this year has come together even better and we are looking forward to the best event yet. It is going to be hard to top having the NASCAR points leader Kevin Harvick at your tournament (Kevin came with a team and really helped put our tournament on the map last year) but I think we have organized a great group of golfers and prizes to make sure everyone walks away happy.

One of the neatest parts of doing a local event like this is to see how much the community rallies around you. We have had some great local businesses get involved like Outback Steakhouse, Red Elephant, and Camping World just to name a few. EZ-GO steped up this year and gave us one of their new electric golf carts to raffle off and Daytona was kind enough to give us a 4 ticket package to the Daytona 500! I was also able to hit our local radio station this past week to talk about the upcoming event. I am a fan of Preston and Eric’s Morning Show so that makes it more fun for me to have the chance to interact with them on their show and help bring awareness to the tournament.

So my message to you with this post is to challenge you to make a difference in your community. The reason ECHO has been around for 30 years and is so successful at what it does is because of the individuals who work there. Local people just like you and me. It is a testament to how much one persons efforts, collectively with others just like them, can have such an impact on a community. This is how we make the places we live better and I am proud to be part of one of the best in Tallahassee.

About ECHO – http://www.echotally.org/about/