2009 Annual Conference

The Beacon of Hope Trip

I have always contended that I2M'ers, as they are called, are "different." And I mean different in the most positive way.

In the spirit of innovation and as a celebration of reaching our work goals in 2008, the Innovate to Motivate volunteer leaders agreed that we should give back to New Orleans. Over a third of the conference attendees gave their only free afternoon to spend time with the Beacon of Hope, re-habbing a house in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans, where only 30% of the residents have been able to return to more than three years after Hurricane Katrina.

And, they ran in. Literally. Our volunteer coordinator, John, told me, "Well, I hated for your people to be tearing that drywall out without masks for a few minutes, but sometimes we get people who just stand around and wait for someone to tell them what to do. Heck, your people just ran in and went after it! I'd rather see that any day."

Thanks to the generous support of our Platinum Sponsor, Brett Kappel of Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease, a large contingent of I2M conference attendees literally ran into the house and attacked the various projects, from patching drywall, to tearing out drywall, to cleaning out a large shed, an attic to scrubbing wrought iron porch ornamentations.

"We at Vorys were deeply gratified by the outstanding turnout of I2M attendees who gave up an afternoon that could have been otherwise spent enjoying all that New Orleans has to offer, but instead chose to help those who are still suffering more then three years after Katrina."

-- Brett Kappel, Vorys

We ran in. We will run to the next opportunity to help in 2010. See you there. Click here for the slideshow of more pictures from the Beacon of Hope project.

Onward,

Amy Showalter

2009 Conference Brochure (PDF)