Probably by now, you know that Infusionsoft’s purpose is to “Liberate and empower entrepreneurs, so they can enjoy doing business, wow their customers and better serve their families and communities.” Infusionsoft has always taken an active role in strengthening our communities locally and abroad.
Last weekend, I had the opportunity to be an active part of one of these communities. The Children’s Miracle Network held their annual PGA Tour Golf Tournament in Orlando FL, the CMN Classic. It was held at the Shades of Green Hotel near Disneyworld. This hotel caters to armed forces and their families so they can take well-deserved time off and be pampered. It was amazing to be around our servicemen and women, along with their families. Their strength and courage radiated the halls of that hotel. The golf course surrounding the hotel was host to the tournament.
We arrived at the event on Wednesday. Our transportation was provided by amazing volunteers who participated in (and operated) the whole event. They had hundreds of volunteers who drove cars, ran the booths and ensured the tournament went on without a hitch. The next morning, we returned to our booth at 8AM. Our booth was right next to the CMN booth, were they would be selling their famous paper balloons. Those are the balloons you see at your local grocery store or credit union sold for one dollar. These balloons are responsible for raising millions of dollars for local hospitals each year.
Thursday morning, the booth was being run by a CMN representative and a wonderful family which was supporting the cause, The Leon Family. This family has gone through a lot. Their beautiful daughter, Justice, is a surviving twin and came into the world at 23 weeks, weighing only 1 pound 5 ounces, 11 ½ inches long. Justice was able to return home on oxygen and a monitor after spending just over three months in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. You should see her today:
As evident in the photo above, she’s a beautiful little girl, that never stopped smiling. She would smile and stick out her tongue when she smiled. She sure loved to play with her daddy. The only time she stopped smiling was when it was feeding time, she had to be fed through a feeding tube in her little belly. You could tell it wasn’t fun for her. She seemed to be in a lot of pain. As soon as she was done, she went right back to smiling.
This family’s purpose in attending was to sell balloons at the event. The proceeds went to the local children’s hospital, the Arnold Palmer and the Shands Hospital. Being seasoned to sell $5000 software packages in previous events, I grew a little concerned after noticing they were struggling to get people to buy the $1 balloons.
I asked them how many they sold last year and they said around 200-300 total for the weekend. I made a vow that I wouldn’t allow them to go home without beating that number. Naturally, I asked if I could help out, since I don’t mind being persistent. My goal was to talk with every person that came into the door and made sure they bought a balloon. I mean, who doesn’t have a dollar to spare? The Leon Family left their shift with over 200 balloons sold.
The next family that took their place was the Chorney Family. Their miracle child was Carson. He was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer of the nervous system that is tough to beat. Carson spent over four months in the hospital.
Today, Carson is back to good health. He’s an active boy that loves basketball with a spirit that doesn’t quit, even though he became tired easily. We got to work selling balloons and he sold 400 balloons by the time he left that night.
The next day we were joined by two beautiful girls, Emma and Allison.
Emma is a beautiful four year old girl that is amazing. In her short little life, she has had three open-heart surgeries. She was born with a heart defect called Transposition of the Great Vessels. Emma’s pulmonary artery and aorta were switched and she was not receiving oxygen-rich blood. To see how beautiful and active she is, you would think she hasn’t had any surgeries at all. She was very active in proudly making sure that each balloon was put up on the wall for everyone to see. Throughout the day, she held a constant smile that couldn’t be phased.
Allison was the other miracle child. When she was eight, she had to have surgery to remove a tumor from her vertebrae. She was such a sweet girl. Her dad mentioned he was not much of a ‘sales’ guy, so he wondered how he could help. I gave him a few pointers and he was off … he was possessed. He stayed there the whole day and before he left, they had sold over 1000 balloons. He learned that he had an excellent sales support, his beautiful daughter, and she would close the deal. You might say she was a ‘closer’, in the industry of sales.
Saturday was another amazing day! We were joined by Matthew later in the day. At birth, his esophagus was not connected so he had to have multiple surgeries. He was a born sales man. Again at the end of the day, we left with another 1000 balloons sold.
All in all, our total for Thursday through Saturday was over 2600 balloons sold. We did it together and crushed our goals in the name of helping people and local hospitals provide better lives for people. Being from Arizona, our flight left in the morning so we had to pack up early. I was told that on Sunday, we sold 800 more balloons for a total of 3400 for the event. It was awesome!
I have been to numerous events. Each one of these events has been beneficial in their own way. But, I have never left an event with such a sense of gratitude and excitement for being involved in such a worthwhile cause. I look forward to doing it again.
You can learn more about donating to the Children’s Miracle Network on their Website. It’s pretty cool, you can donate to the national charity or even select a local hospital in your area to elect your funds to help.
It’s awesome and heartwarming that together we can help local and national communities with our hard work, core values and even sales skills. I got a kick out of that! Our team is all-ears for identifying causes that are important for small businesses and entrepreneurs to support. If you have one, drop by and let us know so we can build a great partnership and help revolutionize the lives of people around us.
Is there a favorite charity or cause that you can rally your support for? What if you had a leader in small business standing behind you to do it? Let me know in the comments below! 
Posted In: Live Events
