Here is the text I received recently. ‘Let me introduce myself. My name is Delia Head and I’m a brand spanking new consultant. In October of 2012 I was diagnosed with a mysterious spinal cord injury which left me in a continual state of 10+ on the pain scale, 24/7. In addition, I have been diagnosed with Osteopenia. And to top it off, I experience a bout of depression and a host of other health challenges. My dream is to come out of the darkness of this nightmare and into the light of Nikken wellness.’
Vance's Tip of the Week
May 25, 2018
It’s not often we get to hear a comment like this and especially from a new customer. For his sake and the agony he’s been dealing with the last few months, I so wish he was talking about the pain in his feet from a rare condition, but unfortunately it wasn’t. After I sold him a pair of mStrides and introduced him to Nikken, I invited John to help me out with a healthy society project and he immediately said yes. He hasn’t been actively responding as a volunteer firefighter lately because by noon everyday his feet hurt so bad that he can barely walk. Little did both of us know how dramatic this experience was going to be.
So last Friday John and I braved the traffic in Brush 62 (the most versatile off-road rig we have) and got all set for the soon to be wildfire of kids that would soon overtake us. In three waves of the recess bell, 600 kids swarmed us with wide-eyes and questions that wouldn’t quit. We didn’t realize that most of these kids had never been near a fire truck, had the opportunity to spray water, or even be close to someone as they kept asking… ‘So you’re a REAL firefighter?’
Without giving all the details, last Fall a school across town started a coin drive to raise money for the Corbett Fire Department because we were directly involved in fighting the Eagle Creek fire which as of last week has a price tag of almost $40 million. It was the 5th grade leadership group who decided on which group to give the money and they raised over $2000 for our volunteer [fire] department.
After they presented us with yet another huge plastic jug with more coins and bills, I pulled a fast one and presented them with a framed picture of a fireman shaking the hand of Mickey Mouse. I’ve had this in my office for years and since I ‘play Nikken’ in the family room now and don’t have an office, I have been praying for the right person or group of people to give this to. It seemed perfectly fitting to pass it onto a group of kids who didn’t know how much their coin drive would impact a group of folks across town. I hadn’t rehearsed what I would say, but I knew some kind words from the heart needed to be said to the small group of leaders who stayed behind long after the last bell rang.
‘You did your job so we could do ours. While you went to school and collected coins, some of us were fighting a fire that eventually burned 48,000 acres of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. We’re all on the same team and without you, we couldn’t have done what we did. We have been able to purchase some extra equipment with this gift. So, thank you for investing your time into us. I hope this gift from our family somehow conveys our gratitude to you and this school.’
As I watched the last student line up, I couldn’t help but notice both the principal and counselor were still wiping their eyes. One of the dads of two of the kids was there snapping photo’s and he too had sweaty eyes. Was it what I said? No, I think it was a culmination of a bunch of people, over the last nine months, all working together to impact their society. I’m not paid to be a volunteer firefighter. I simply am doing my part, just like these students.
When one of the pillars of our company is Healthy Society, we can continue to make impacts in our community every day by simply doing right things. Most of the time they will go unnoticed, but when you get to experience what I did, trust me when I say, that several hundred people noticed. I don’t think my friend John had ever experienced anything like this before which is why he said what he did as we drove out of the parking lot, ‘I think that was by far, one of the best days of my life and thank you for allowing me to help’.
Vance"
