by Yinka Faleti
delivered to UPS
2016
Good morning.
How’s everyone doing?
Great to be here with you this morning. Thanks for allowing me a few minutes to share with you about United Way.
First, I want to thank Fern Shaw and your leadership here at UPS for your commitment to the community through United Way. If you’ve been a donor to United Way in the past, thank you for your investment and for the lives changed by your investment. If you’re peeking over the fence at joining the United Way movement, thank you for being here today to learn more. As a collective, last year, many of you were part of the UPS team that raised over $500,000 for the community through United Way. You saw the video earlier and so you’ve already seen the impact of your giving. Those three stories showing lives changed forever and a million more in our community are possible because of your giving.
There’s nothing more important that we can do for our community than ensure our youth have the greatest opportunities to succeed. When I think about that, I think about a story I was told a while ago about a little boy named Phillip and a teacher named Mrs. Holder. And, at first glance, the story seems to be about him; but, if you’re able to listen closely, you’ll see that the story is really about the teacher. Now, it’s been a while, so please pardon if I don’t remember all of the details, but I think the story went something like this:
A little boy named Phillip lived in a small town on the east cost of Florida. He attended a junior high school there. This particular junior high, because of NASA’s presence in Florida, was part of the effort to get kids engaged in science projects and the like. So, kids at the school could participate in state-wide science research competitions. Phillip was one of those kids. Mrs. Holder was the school science research coordinator, so she taught the class, and Phillip was in her class. She also taught some general science classes and Phillip was in those classes as well with Mrs. Holder as his teacher.
Well, Phillip was at this school for 7th and 8th grades. In those two years, Mrs. Holder really got to know him and liked him because he was a good student. In fact, he was a straight ‘A’ student. He was doing really well in her classes, and she enjoyed having him as a student. He was also doing well with his science research work.
Well, I’m told the summer after 8th grade and before 9th, Phillip’s family moved from Florida to a small town in Mississippi. And Phillip began 9th grade in that Mississippi school. But after a couple of weeks in the Mississippi school, Phillip and his parents realized that Phillip was being taught things in the 9th grade of the Mississippi school that he’d learned in 8th grade in the Florida school. So, and this is where I’m fuzzy on the story—I’m not sure whether it was Phillip’s parents who called the Florida teacher, Mrs. Holder, or whether Mrs. Holder called Phillip’s parents; but someway, somehow the two parties were discussing what would it look like for Phillip to go back to Florida to finish out 9th grade in the Florida school—while living with Mrs. Holder and her husband.
Now, let me set this up for you:
Mrs. Holder was an empty nester. She and her husband were well in their forties. They had one daughter who was already out of the house and in college. They were truly empty nesters. Now, how many of you have kids? How many of you are empty nesters? How many wish they were empty nesters?
So, here it is Mrs. Holder and her husband were considering whether to take in this 15-year-old teenager. I’m told that Mrs. Holder’s husband had never even met Phillip.…But someway, somehow, Mrs. Holder and her husband agree to take Phillip in, so he could finish out his 9th grade year in the Florida junior high school and finish out his science research work, etc. So, Phillip goes back to Florida, and he lives with Mrs. Holder and her husband for that school year.
And, in that school year, this is what happens:
He plays organized basketball for the school for the first time. He runs track for the school for the first time. And he continues to do work on his science research and do well academically. Now, here’s what’s cool about that year: in basketball, I’m told Phillip sets the school record for most rebounds in a game; he wins the county one mile run championship for 9th grade boys; and he graduates as number one in his class academically—as the valedictorian of that junior high.
Now, here’s what’s really cool about this story: because Phillip did well in that academically rigorous junior high, he was able to get into an academically rigorous high school, which put him in a position to be competitive for, gain admission to, and graduate from West Point.
.
.
.
But there’s a twist on this story. That little boy wasn’t Phillip. That little boy was me.
I’ll never forgot what Mrs. Holder did for me in that 9th grade year. What she gave me changed the course of my life forever. She drove me home from basketball practice, from track meets. She was there when I struggled with geometry. She clothed me. She fed me. She took me everywhere she and her husband, Duane, went. When they went out to be with their friends, they took me with them. For that school year, I was their son.
Now, you may not be able to take a child into your home like Mrs. Holder did. But you can certainly help that child succeed in whichever home they’re in. When you give and invest like Mrs. Holder invested in me, you change the course of a child’s life, a family’s life forever.
In St. Louis City, only 46% of youth graduate high school. There are so many Phillips—children just like I was—all over our community. And they need you. They need your leadership. They need you to plug in. What you do in this campaign has ripple and resonance for a lifetime.
As I close, thank you again to those of you who are already part of the movement. Thank you in advance for your gift to the community through United Way. If you’re not already plugged in, I hope my story will help you see your power to change a life by giving. Thank you.
