On Monday I was honored to be the guest of two sweet friends at United Way’s Thirteenth Annual Luncheon for Women Leaders in Mobile, AL. My friends, Wanda Martin and Beth Thomas, invited me to the luncheon held at the Mobile Museum of Art where I experienced quality in tangible ways. As I continue this month with 31 Days of Flipping Out, I am excited to present day 8 as a quality of life flip. My “31 Days” has focused, so far, on ways to re-use or improve things in our everyday life. I can only imagine the “flips” we could experience if we were working diligently “to improve the quality of life in our community.”
The United Way of Southwest Alabama touches lives in both Mobile and Baldwin Counties and this luncheon was no exception. Everywhere I looked and every hand I shook was directly related to improving life in some area of my community.
The tables were decorated with a simple vase of daisies with alphabet blocks to hold the stems in place. This simple arrangement represented their priority of using 4 simple values as building blocks for a better life.
- Education
- Health
- Financial Stability
- Life’s Essentials
A delicious lunch prepared and served by Martha Rutledge Catering.
Both counties were represented in attendance and as I sat listening to the keynote speaker, one thing stood out to me more than anything else. The description of this council of women is both powerful and accurate. These women are a “diverse group of professionals with various interests, ethnic backgrounds, and ages, but all share in a belief that addressing the most crucial needs is essential to creating a better life for all.”
United Way provides a way to do all of the above. Our keynote speaker was Dr. Lynda Carroll, the Assistant Superintendent of Mobile County Public Schools. Her topic of choice was attendance in the public school system. She gave many statistics, personal stories and a challenge for us to encourage the students we know to show up every day. Perfect attendance is the goal.
By attending this luncheon, I was educated on the statistics of school attendance; reminded how good health and better financial planning lead to a better quality of life and that without the essentials of food and shelter, none of this is possible. It was a natural flip. Instead of focusing on material things to improve, I spent the day with a group of women who want to “flip” the quality of life in our community.
Left to Right: Dawn Bush, Beth Thomas, Wanda Martin, Jenny Hunt – the WLC Chair and Events Chair, Me, Emily Miles and Beth Hardaway
Thank you, Wanda and Beth, for a very memorable day!