Congratulations Brent!

A couple weeks ago I posted that we had some other exciting things that were going on during the month of June. I can finally share what is going on.

Brent was nominated for the Citizenship of the Year award at Rockwell Collins, where he works. We were notified about a month ago that he was the winner of this award. I am so very proud of my husband and the work he does!

The winner of this award gets $500 donated to the charity of their choice, a presentation celebration with the CEO of Rockwell and an article in the magazine put out by the company. It was such an honor to just be nominated, we were shocked to find that he was the winner. Rockwell employees around 20,000 people nationwide, so we thought surely there was someone more deserving.

When we read the recommendations it brought me to tears and made Brent speachless. The nomination was based mainly his work with Flashes of Hope but also included work with Heart Connection and Dance Marathon as we built those relationships through Flashes.

The nomination also mentioned his work at our church and GPL Foundation. Many of you may not know that we were not introduced to the childhood cancer world through Mikayla. Brent was a founding board member for the GPL Foundation. It was named for Grady Paul Larson, a little boy who died from a brain tumor. The organization held an annual softball tournament to raise money to support a child's Wish, with proceeds going to Make-A-Wish. Each year our family would meet and pray for a new child that was facing this battle. I will say that made it hard to tell Tyler Mikayla's diagnosis, because he knew what cancer was and unfortunatley several of the kids that were sponsored passed away, so that is what he knew of cancer and it was the first thing he asked when we told him what Mikayla had.

I wanted to share a few comments from the recommendation...

"Brent has overwhelmingly surpassed every expectation we have for our volunteer chapter directors. In 2008, he provided services to nearly 250 families, far exceeding our target of providing free portrait photography to 50 families. He has held numerous fundraisers – each more creative than the one before. He has created a presence and name recognition for Flashes of Hope in the state of Iowa.
On a larger scale, the work Brent has done to establish a camp chapter program in now a nationwide model for Flashes of Hope. This year Flashes of Hope is establishing camp chapters in 8 other states and expects to be able to provide services to over 1400 additional families through this model." Kristine DiFiore, Flashes of Hope

"Brent took an active role with Flashes of Hope bringing it to Iowa and starting the Iowa Chapter. Brent made it possible for photographers to come out and photograph our Oncology patients at camp last summer. Last summer was the first year for this program to kick off. Brent did a great job getting everything organized. Due to weather and the floods last summer the photo shoots didn’t run as smoothly as was planned, and made it somewhat difficult for photographers to take pictures of the campers. Brent didn’t let that stop him from making this first time successful. Brent worked hard and made the trip to Boone from Cedar Rapids several times that week making sure that every camper that needed their picture taken was taken." Channon Timm, Heart Connection

"For as long as I have known him, Brent has always embodied the values of citizenship. During the most difficult moments of his life, as his daughter was being diagnosed and treated for cancer, Brent always made sure his family came first. Throughout the entire ordeal, he kept his faith strong and remembered the values of stewardship and selflessness." Brian Martin, Dance Marathon

Brent is very humble about the award. He doesn't see what he does as "anything different than what others do" but I must say our entire family is quite proud of him! Brent has a heart for helping others and I love him for that.

Brent will have a meeting with Clay Jones, CEO of Rockwell on Monday. The article for the magazine will come out soon. And we are so excited that $500 will go to Flashes of hope, that will help us to photograph 20 children!

We head out bright and early in the morning to camp. We hope to photograph 120-130 kids. Please pray for good weather, these are outdoor shots and we have one day to get them. We are so excited. We both feel that we get way more than we give by doing this photos. The time with the kids is priceless and our photographers are the best.

Congratulations Brent, I am so proud of you and you deserve this award!
Christie