Remarks from our 2011 Campaign Chair

July 7, 2011

Christopher P. Wise
Vice President, Randy Wise Automotive Team

When I moved back to this area 6 years ago, one of the first responsibilities my boss/father gave me at the dealership was to run the United Way campaign for our 200-employee company.  Since that time, I have seen the true character of those that live and work in this area.

Most people don’t live in Flint because of fancy shops or world-class restaurants.  They live here because of two things- the people they know here and their desire to make something better.
When you move to a big city with fancy stores, restaurants, businesses, and nightlife- believe it or not, that eventually gets old.

And what are you left with?  The people you live around.  No matter if it’s Chicago or Flushing.  New York or Grand Blanc.  That’s where Flint has the advantage over so many places in my opinion.  I’ve experienced it first hand.

It’s a community where nearly everyone understands the need, the desire to fulfill that need, and the collective work ethic that’s required to achieve the goal.

We all know the obvious- the economy has not been kind lately.  People are moving away.  It’s tough to bring new business in.  Unemployment continues to balloon.  But most importantly, we all know that the NEED continues to expand and our work only gets more difficult.

Fine, we’ve identified the problem and we’ve identified the obstacles- now what?
I am a true believer of a slogan that has lasted generations, because I believe it cuts to the chase- Nike’s Just Do It.

Nike chose that slogan years ago because ‘it’s an immediate call to action’.
It became so popular, that the company received letters from people all over the world saying it inspired them to leave abusive relationships, achieve heroic feats, and initiate life-changing habits they never thought possible.

Pretty impressive for 3 words from a shoe company. 

It may sound too simplistic, but too often, we spend too much time analyzing the problem, discussing the challenges, and getting consumed by the task at hand, instead of acting on an opportunity to achieve something great.

It’s never easy.  If it was, it’s not worth doing. But the sooner we all accept the challenge in front of us, the sooner we can achieve success.  And there’s no better definition of success than helping those in need.

In fact, instead of stating the obvious in regards to the problems we face today, we actually have a tremendous opportunity to show our community, our state, and anyone who cares to pay attention to us, just how strong we are by overcoming a seemingly insurmountable task.

It’s time we Just Do it.  We know the odds are stacked against us, we know the obstacles we face, but let’s not dwell on them. Plain and simple, this community needs us more than ever.

It all starts with leveraging off fresh ideas from other United Ways around the country, figuring out how to inject more excitement into the process of raising money, and creating a brand awareness of exactly who and what the United Way of Genesee County is.

A quote that says it best in my opinion- “We are continually faced with great opportunities brilliantly disguised as unsolvable problems.”

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