Just do it
Richest People in America March 27th, 2007
For anyone who feels like today’s youth are a reason to worry about our future, read the nomination below for the REAL Richest People in America project emailed to me yesterday. I have nothing but pride in today’s youth when I hear stories like this.“If I have seen further,” Sir Isaac Newton, famously said, “it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”When I was little, my father seemed literally a giant to me. I still vividly remember him carrying my younger brother on his shoulders as the three of us took three brand new basketballs to the Ventura Fire Department to donate them to Toys For Tots for Christmas. Each year thereafter, Dad would take us to the sporting goods store so my brother and I could personally pick out balls to buy and donate to kids less fortunate than us such as at the local Special Olympics and the Boys & Girls Clubs. Later, he encouraged us to use some of our own hard-earned allowance to buy one ball each; soon we were buying two balls each; then three. In short, Dad instilled in us the true spirit of giving. This past Christmas my brother and I each bought and donated $100 worth of sports balls.
Meanwhile, seven years ago I found myself trying to stand on my dad’s giant shoulders. I wanted to see further; do more. So I started a Holiday Book Drive and have since collected and donated 8,446 new books to underprivileged children throughout Ventura County. Though never my motivation, this and other charitable efforts have earned me numerous awards and accolades; articles about me in newspapers and magazines; and even a trip to New York to appear on The CBS Early Show.
However, I am not nominating my father for lifting me up onto his giant shoulders. The person in Ventura (California) County who I believe most truly deserves recognition as one of the Richest People In America for generously giving his time and talents to help others is my younger brother, Greg Woodburn. You see, he has climbed on my dad’s and then onto my shoulders to see yet further than either of us - and do even more.
Confession: I have not done my Holiday Book Drive alone. Greg has helped me from the start, and greatly. And the past two years when I was away at the University of Southern California, Greg basically took the entire enterprise on his bony-but-square shoulders — from publicity to collecting the books and sorting them by reading level, to delivering them to two Boys & Girls Clubs, the Avenue Library, Project Understanding, and Casa Pacifica.
Greg hasn’t stopped there. He wanted to see further; reach higher; do even more. So last year he started his own organization, called S.O.S. (Share Our Soles) to collect and donate running shoes to needy youth. I should mention that Greg is an outstanding cross country and distance track runner; he twice won the 1-Mile and 2-Mile County Championships as a youth and competed in the AAU cross country Nationals five times. In local races, he always stays at the finish line and cheers on the others behind him; that is my brother’s caring nature. However, he suffered a hip stress fracture as a high school freshman and had serious knee troubles last year as a sophomore. During his ordeal, Greg refused to feel sorry for himself; instead he realized how sad it was for kids who couldn’t run and enjoy its benefits (like raised self-esteem and confidence) not because they were injured, but because they couldn’t afford shoes. So he set a goal of collecting 100 pairs to donate to needy kids.
He tirelessly spread word of his cause, collected and washed by hand not 100 pairs, but 520 pairs to date! He has sent these refurbished running shoes to youth groups in Una Esparanza in Mexico, and Sudan, Uganda and Kenya in Africa. He also donated tennis shoes to inner-city Los Angeles and non-athletic shoes to our local Goodwill and Casa Pacifica. Greg now has a goal of reaching 1,000 pairs of donated shoes by year’s end - and last week he contacted Deena Kastor, American bronze medalist in the marathon at the 2004 Olympic Games and got her to donate more than 20 pairs of running shoes! Through his worthy endeavor, not only has Greg enriched the lives of underprivileged kids near and far, but importantly he has spread a positive image of Ventura County halfway around the world as a place where giving and caring people live.
If this weren’t enough in itself, Greg has also raised money by taking pledges per mile that he ran in a single month (191 miles!) in order to offer a “scholarship” to pay the season fee for a youngster who otherwise couldn’t afford to join the Ventura Tigres Youth Track Club that Greg ran on for many years.
But Greg is more than just about sports. Like the ancient Greeks, he dearly believes in a sound mind in a sound body. He is a straight-A student who has been named to “Who’s Who for American High School Students” and “The National Society of High School Scholars” among other educational awards.
For three years Greg has been on Ventura High School’s Board of Directors for Interact Club (sponsored by Rotary International) as well as the Key Club (Kiwanis International) and with these two groups has helped with numerous public service projects. He also annually participates in the “Relay For Life” which raises money for the American Cancer Society, and as a volunteer for Caregivers he has “adopted” an elderly woman named Jewell whom he routinely visits and does household chores for. He does none of this for reward, but simply because he is a person who cares about others, and deeply so.
I know there will be many extraordinary nominees who have given more money to charity than has Greg, though likely his couple hundred dollars annually is worth more to him than thousands of dollars are to many adults. And I know many of the tremendous nominees have been volunteering for more years than my 17-year-old brother has been alive; yet have they been making a difference in our community for more than half their lives? Greg has! I couldn’t be more proud to be “Greg’s Big Sister” for he makes S.O.S. stand for “Sharing Outstanding Soul.”
 While he is my younger brother, Greg is also my hero and role model. In his young life to date he has already shown the leadership, generosity, energy and positive attitude to serve as an inspiring role model for people of all ages. Indeed, Greg makes the world a richer place for he makes us see a better world by lifting us up on his giant shoulders.
 Tim’s note:
Last week, I met the CEO of 100 Black Men of Atlanta (I will write about this amazing man this week). When I asked him about to spread what I learned from him that day, he said, “Tell three people the story.” If you were impacted by this story…please pass it on to three people today.
Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies, associations, and national conventions. He is the founder of the The Worlds Biggest Blog Party an event which will connect bloggers from all over the world to raise money for charity. He is also founder and president of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund. For more information on Tim, go to www.TimRichardson.com
