Good evening. Welcome to Smart Girls. We are so happy that you are here with us tonight. You can stay
in the lines. Please get drinks. Please get ice cream. We're happy that you're here. For those of you
that don't know me, my name's Leslie Absher. I'm the CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Bloomington.
What's today? 25th? I've been in this job for eight months and 25 days, so very exciting.
Thank you, thank you. I love being at the Boys and Girls Club. This is my 11th year here. It's really
exciting to watch how this organization has grown. This building did not exist when I started 11 years
ago. So you're sitting in a building that we built for this neighborhood to continue to grow the services
that we provide in this community. So we're excited to have you here at the Stephen Conney Ferguson
Crestmont Club tonight. To be part of what I love, this event, we had a boys event, a boys to men event
for a lot of years. And over the years, women came to me and said, hey,
Where's the women's event? And I said, that's a really good question. We're going to get a women's event
going. And we've had this women's event going ever since. So really excited to be here with all of you
and to see how this event too has grown. And it's exciting to see what we're going to do tonight for
the kids in our community. So thank you for being here. Thank you for being part of what we're going
to do for girls in our community. It means so much to me and it means so much to the kids that we are
going to support with the funds that we raised tonight. So empowering young women in our community is
the work of us all.
Each and every one of us has a part to play in making sure that kids feel safe, that they feel loved,
that they feel nurtured, that they feel cared for. You may be raising one of those young women. You
may be working alongside some of those young women who are in high school or interns from college with you.
coaching some of those young women. Those of you that volunteer coach women's sports, you may be volunteering
at their schools, you may be spending time engaging with them, but in lots of ways, you are investing
in the lives of young people, and thank you for doing that every single day. We need each and every
one of us to do that. We do that at Boys and Girls Club, but we know that that's happening all over
this community, so thank you for doing that. It's meaningful and important work. Women need to be confident.
They need to be smart. They need to be driven. They need to feel like they can do what it is that they
want to do, and we love
to be able to empower and encourage those girls. You heard in that video, just having somebody to listen.
Having somebody to talk to is really important. And that's part of what we bring at Boys and Girls Club
with our programming. And you'll hear a little bit more about that as we go through the night. But thank
you so much for being part of what we're about to do tonight. Every kid deserves an opportunity to grow,
to thrive, to be mentored, and to be cared for. And that's happening every single day here at the club.
So really exciting news. The Boys and Girls Club is serving more kids every single day than ever before.
We've been around for 70 years as of next year. And we are hitting all time highs every single day.
So we are serving almost 700 kids in this community every single day. Cool. Really great. And every
day I get calls from staff saying, hey, we have 10 more kids that showed up today. What do we do, right?
Where do we put them? And we need more chairs and we need more staff. And it does take buildings and it takes
people, and it takes supplies, and it takes money to do what it is that we do. And we don't charge families,
we charge $20 a year. That's it. $20 a year. Yeah. Yeah, but actually, that's because of all of you,
right? You all make it possible for us to charge $20 a year, right? We
survive on community donations. That is how we do it. 77% of all of our donations comes from this community.
And it's not people, as you think, which we love this too, but it's not people writing ginormous checks.
We'll take your ginormous check, don't get me wrong. But it's mostly people saying, yeah, I can do $50
a month. Yeah, I can do that. I can do $100 today. I can. And that is how we get it done.
We get it done by everyone in our community anting in and saying, I believe in kids, and I believe in
giving them a great future, and that is how we serve the kids that we serve in this community, and that's
how we're able to do what we do. So it's really about each and every one of you being part of what we're
doing and saying yes. So being here today is really helping us to do that, because you know it doesn't
cost us $20 a year to serve those kids. It costs us about $750 a year, and we make up that difference
through community donations. So thank you for being part of this, and thank you for thinking about what
you're going to do that's meaningful
for kids tonight because that is why we're here. We're here to be inspired. We're here to remember the
power and importance that we all have in mentoring the next generation. And we're here to do something
special for our kids at the Boys and Girls Club. So a couple of logistics before we get into our program.
We want to thank our sponsors for the evening. You know that there's ice cream back there and coffee
and Cardinal spirits and food. There's bathrooms out that back door, those two brown doors out there.
And there will be a really exciting raffle at the end of the night. So lots of good things to
win at the end of the night. So you have your tickets. They're stapled to your bid numbers.
So keep those. You have to be present to win our raffle items. But raffle items are going to be great.
So we'll draw those at the end of the night. So keep those with you. A few groups I want to recognize.
If you are a member of the board of directors, or you are an ambassador from the board of directors,
a past board of directors member, or an auxiliary member, will you stand for me to be recognized tonight?
Thank you so much. These are the leaders in our community that say yes to the great work that we do.
They do a lot of work behind the scenes. Our board is a hard working board. They roll up their sleeves.
They do the work that needs to be done for kids. Our auxiliary is the same. They're here every Friday
serving meals right in that kitchen to all of our kids on Fridays. And then they take hot meals home
for the weekend so that they have food over the weekend. They come in and they volunteer and they do
things that need to be done. So these are wonderful people that have said, yes, if you are interested
in being part of those groups, I would love to talk to you about that. We always need good leadership
and good people. So come chat with me if that's something you might be interested in in the future too.
But thank you so much to those groups, the board, and the auxiliary, and the past board members. We
wouldn't be here today without you. We also have a lot of sponsors to thank tonight. So how many of
you enjoyed the food? Finney Group? Yes, let's give it up for Finney Group. So Finney Group donated
all of that food, all of it, every single piece.
It's a big donation, and we really appreciate it so that more dollars can go into the work for kids,
right? We're not spending it to feed all of you. Finney Group is covering that cost for us,
so what a great, gracious donation. We're so appreciative for them for doing that. The alcohol was provided,
also donated, by Cardinal Spirits, by Finney Group, and Oliver Winery, and so thank you to them and
our bartender, Joy Shaw, back there.
Coffee was donated by Verona Coffee, and the ice cream was donated by Brewsters, so round of applause
for them as well. The photography tonight was donated by Sherry Dupree and Everson Exuberance, so thank
you to them for getting some good photos of us tonight.
And then Go Express Travel, hopefully shuttled some of you over here so you didn't have to worry about
walking or finding parking. Again, free of charge, they provide that shuttle service to us, so thank
you to Go Express Travel. The lovely flowers on your table are Three Blondes Flower Co. We love them,
they're a new flower company in town. Kelsey grew up here in Bloomington, and now she's got this beautiful
business, and so we're excited to have her support us, and she donated all these lovely flowers, so
we are thankful for them. You can take the flowers home,
but we would love to reuse the vases because we're, you know, we're thrifty here at the Boys and Girls
Club. So you're welcome to take the flowers at the end of the night, but if you could leave us the vases,
we'll reuse them for next year. That would be great. But we love three blondes, so thanks to Kelsey
for donating those flowers tonight.
I wanna say a few thank yous for our volunteers. The Bloomington Fire Department comes and sets up all
these tables and chairs in about like two minutes flat. So we really appreciate them because it would
take us a lot of time to do that. So thank you for them.
We also have really awesome young people helping us, surprise, surprise, volunteering for us. So the
Bloomington High School North Athletic Board, the Bloomington High School South Honor Society, the Chi
Pi Fraternity, the Lambda Sigma Upsilon Latino Fraternity, and a bunch of other individuals have helped
us to do all the setup, and they'll help us with teardown as well. So round of applause for those volunteers.
Nature's Way provided these beautiful plants on this stage, so we're looking very tropical tonight,
which we love. It's gonna be good for our photos, so thank you for them for that.
Yeah, and we love mentioning, too, Marquis Rental and Staging and Master Rental. These are people that
donate and contribute to us in ways that help us to keep our event costs down really low. So again,
every dollar that is made tonight and is donated actually goes straight to kids in programs. And so
we really appreciate that. So round of applause to everyone who has helped us to donate tonight.
All right, then onto our table sponsors. So our gold sponsors, and you can hold your applause until
I get to the end of my list, but our gold sponsors tonight include Comprehensive Financial Consultants.
This is David Hayes as a board member. He was a club kid. If you ever want to hear a good story, David
will tell you a good story about the trouble he got into as a club kid. But he's been a club supporter
ever since, so thank you to David and CFCI. Service Master, Restoration and Cleaning. Thank you to Dusty
Bean and Sheena. That group is great. They really believe in the power of kids. Dusty really gets it.
He really understands what we're doing
here and he really loves anting in for that so thank you guys for that we so appreciate it. Choice Realty
Laurie Todd is a board member has been a longtime club supporter probably before my time Laurie's been
involved in supporting the club so such an advocate for kids and very few people roll up their sleeves
the way Laurie does so I just really appreciate you Laurie and thanks to Choice Realty. Again Marquis
rental and staging we love Zach and the crew over there they're making us sound good and look good so
that's wonderful. Baird also we want to thank Jeff Main, Dan Matthews, Alice Zollman and the whole crew over
there for helping us provide support for the clubs. They've been long-time supporters as well, and they
really believe in what we're doing for kids, so thank you to them. Master rental, as I mentioned, Darren
Lavin was a past board member. He won the community anchor award at the Chambers event a couple of weeks
ago, so he really is a community anchor. Darren does all the rentals for us at no charge, really a big
gift, and so again, we thank him for that. It's wonderful to have him as part of the club family.
Cassidy Electric, we want to thank. They're a division of Houston now. We thank the Cassidy family,
Randy and Mike and Kelly Houston. Mae Cassidy was one of my all-time favorite speakers at this event.
I don't know if I should say that. They're all very good. But Mae was really wonderful. She was one
of our panelists the very first year we had this event. She was one of the people that poked me about
why I didn't have a women's event. So I just really appreciate Mae and the legacy that she has left
as a strong woman in this community. And I'd love to continue to have your guys' support at this event.
It means a lot to us.
companies. Thank you so much to DG and to Laurie Thomas. The Elmore companies is in its third generation
of owning and operating that business and they have been supporting Boys and Girls Clubs ever since.
So really long time supporters of the Boys and Girls Club and their family has been connected to us
for a long time. So we're very thankful for all of our gold sponsors. Can we get a round of applause
for all of them? All right, on to our silver sponsors. We want to thank Go Express Travel.
Brewster's Ice Cream, Sterling Real Estate, German American Bank, Ryan Prahl, IU Health, Rogers Group
and Rogers Group Investments, Verona Coffee, Three Blondes For All Company, Meineke of Ellitsville,
and Garnish Catering. Please give a round of applause for all of our silver sponsors. And finally, thank
you to our bronze sponsors, Spring Hill Sweets, JC Bank,
Shine Insurance, Duke Energy, Susan Yaeli Interiors and Homes, Bilcy Brown Associates, IU School of
Nursing, Brian Thompson F.T. Tucker Realtors in Bloomington, the Wyman Group, the Engraving and Stamp
Center, and Spring Point Architects. So round of applause for our bronze sponsors.
Because we get so much of what we have here to run this event donated, again, all of the sponsorship
dollars goes right into the work that we're doing with our kids. So we love to have those sponsorships.
It really makes a huge difference and a huge impact for the kids that we're serving. All right.
We're done with our thank yous for the beginning part of the evening, and now we're gonna get into the
exciting part of our program. There's a couple really wonderful women that are here with us tonight
that we are gonna hear from, and I'm excited to be able to introduce one of them to you. I wanna introduce
Sherry Dunbar-Cruzan, so I'm gonna read a little bit about Sherry, who really probably needs no introduction
in this room, but we're gonna give her her accolades anyway, because we love Sherry. Sherry, if you
don't know, was born in Fontana, California, but she grew up a hometown girl in Ellitsville, Indiana,
where she played both volleyball
Surprise, surprise, you should all know this about Sherry. And basketball. She attended Ball State on
a full athletic scholarship where she received her bachelor's degree and then earned her master's at
the University of San Francisco.
Sheri has 25 years of Division I coaching experience, including as assistant volleyball coach at University
of San Francisco and the University of Tennessee as a head coach at the College of Charleston in South
Carolina and, of course, here at our very own Indiana University, where she took IU's first and only
NCAA Sweet 16 appearance during her 11 seasons at the helm. Yay!
She chaired the NCAA Division I All-American Committee for three years and has been inducted into both
the College of Charleston Hall of Fame and the Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame. Sherry also received
the May Cassidy Lifetime Achievement Award through the Bloomington Chamber in 2024.
The most important thing about Sherry is not all of those things, but it's that she is someone who gives
back to her community to make sure that not only her sports teams win, but that everybody gets a chance
to win at life. She gives so much of herself to help our great community. She's the past president and
current board member for New Hope
for Families and the current president for Big Brothers Big Sisters Board of Directors. Both of those
organizations are doing great work to invest in the future of our kids in this community and we're so
thankful that they're partners with us in serving those kids in meeting needs. Most importantly, I think
Sherry would say, that she's a big sister to Sammy who's now 18 years old. Sherry's been a mentor to
Sammy for the past seven years through Big Brothers Big Sisters. When it comes to mentorship,
Sherry gets it. She loves it.
And in 2018, Sherry took her leadership and coaching skills to the private sector, and she's now the
training and development manager at TASSIS, as well as the company's community relations liaison.
Sherry's no stranger to the club, or to this event, actually. She's a long-time supporter to the Ellesville
Big Hearts campaign with her and her husband, Mark, and they believe in the power of developing young
people to reach their full potential. Sherry actually moderated the panel discussion that May was in
at our very first Smart Girls Strong Women event, and now she's back with us to help emcee the night
tonight. So please join me in giving a warm welcome to Sherry Dunbar-Cruzan.
going up. Hello Bloomington! I mean my tables just loving the Brewsters and social cantina and they
waiting in line for the drink so it was it's all good. So Leslie I really appreciate you inviting me
to this year's events as Leslie mentioned I was here when May Cassidy, Lori McRobbie and
and Joni Kreen were on the panel. And I don't know how many of you are here, but that is a group of
strong, strong women with immense knowledge and experience. I have no doubt you are gonna be blown away
by Vera Jones' talk tonight as well. And I know you're already anxious to hear Vera speak, but there's
a live microphone right in front of me, and I'm never shy about taking that as an open invitation to
say a few words.
So I'll just take a minute and talk about a topic with which I am passionate about, as Leslie said,
mentorship. You're about to hear from not one, but two former coaches tonight. So you all better lock
in, right, Vera? I saw lines down there. We're not afraid to have them run sprints, are we? In our business,
that's called motivation. Maybe not good motivation, but motivation. Okay, mentorship is a lot like
your car's GPS. We're going to start there.
You don't really notice it when everything's going smoothly, but the second you take a wrong turn, suddenly
it's yelling, recalculating, recalculating. The big difference between mentorship and GPS is that good
mentors don't make you feel bad about missing the exit. They just help you find a smarter way to get
back on track. Here's the thing about mentorship.
It's not about having all the answers. It's about asking the right questions. It's about shining a flashlight
just a little ahead on the path so another person can see where to step with more confidence. Great
mentors don't create more followers. They create leaders. And those leaders, having learned by example,
will one day mentor others. That's a cycle.
Mentorship isn't sitting back while someone else does the heavy lifting. It's showing up with curiosity,
humility, and yes, sometimes a strong cup of coffee. Because showing up can be the most important thing
of all. To effectively show up, be intentional. Most important, be consistent and be engaged.
It's crucial not to underestimate the impact of mentorship, of showing up in someone else's life, especially
a young person's life. Coaching for 25 years gave me a front seat to mentorship, and I truly loved that
part of the job. Mentorship, of course, occurs off the court just as much as it does on. A key difference
is that outside the coach-player setting, a more proactive effort has to be made to connect
mentors and mentees. With a quarter century of coaching in my rear view mirror, I've been fortunate
to be able to transition what I learned on the court into the private sector. Two years ago, we started
a program at our company, Tossus, called Mentoring Pathways.
It's been a great blessing to watch the growth in our employees. I'd be happy to talk with anyone that
would like to start a program at their workplace. It doesn't have to be a daunting task. It just takes
someone believing it's a worthwhile investment. You just never know where mentorship is gonna lead.
You hope to make a difference in someone's life. That's a good day at the office. But sometimes the
reward is much greater. Sometimes you see a scrawny little kid
become a huge success in their profession and in their life. I had the distinct honor of coaching many
great players and people. One of them is still the only first-team All-American in IU volleyball history,
and I'm so excited she's here tonight. Ashley Benson, give them a wave.
Mark and I were fortunate to attend Ashley's pinning ceremony just a few weeks ago to see her earn her
badge. I get emotional about this. Her badge is a full-time professional Monroe Fire Protection District
firefighter. That's amazing.
Ashley told me she saw me standing in the back while she was getting pinned and almost cried. That's
the feeling you work for in mentorship. Now Ashley is a, now she's not only a professional firefighter,
she's also a mother to a beautiful five-year-old, Daisy, who's her mini-me. Now she's the one who's
a role model, showing her daughter what it means to give back to a community, to be a working mom, to
live out a dream, and to love.
There's no better example of successful cycle of mentorship. Muhammad Ali once said, service to others
is the rent we pay for our room here on earth. True service means going beyond the checklist, showing
up with intention, generosity, and that extra spark that can make a real difference. Simon Sinek always
gives such good insights. If you don't know who he is, in the words of Kurt Signetti, Google him.
He said, true service really begins where obligation ends, in that space where intention, care, and
action align. So whether you're a mentor, a mentee, or someone still pretending you don't need either,
remember this, mentorship is simply borrowed wisdom. I'll say it again, mentorship is simply borrowed
wisdom. Someone lends you
their hindsight so you can trade it in for foresight. So let's keep learning from each other, laughing
with each other, and most importantly, pulling each other up. Thanks so much for letting me make use
of this live microphone. Okay, on to the main event.
When Leslie and Darcy sent me my bio for review, I asked them to remove one line. It read, Dunbar was
on the 1986 Regional Basketball Championship team at Edgewood, averaging 15 points and seven rebounds
per game. Maybe that's not bad for a high schooler, but who needs to hear those stats when you have
to introduce a woman who helped lead her team to two Big East Championships and two NCAA tournament
bids? And while she was at it,
Vera was also named the Big East Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year and was later inducted into
the Syracuse University Orange Plus Hall of Fame. Go Orange. Most of you no doubt remember former IU
women's basketball coach Felicia LaGette-Jack. Felicia is a very good friend of mine and more importantly
of Vera's, which meant I was able to ask Felicia for a little bit of input on my introduction.
When I asked her to share a memory of Vera, Felicia laughed at that laugh of hers and said, well, I
will say a few stories were about injuries. I don't really know what those were about, but she said,
well, she sprained her ankle prior to the Big East Championship game, couldn't play, and then re-injured
it again in the celebratory huddle. Without playing, mind you. But then she said, and this is where
she really got into it, Vera goes deep into the soul of a person.
It wasn't unusual to be ready to get on the road and see Vera over in a corner talking with a total
stranger trying to help them. She has big shoulders that enable her to carry the burden of other people's
stories. Sound like a true mentor to you? Sure does to me. So let's take a moment to see a short video
that gives you a bit more insight about our honored guest.
A standout on the court and in the classroom, Vera Jones was the 1988 Big East Scholar Athlete of the
Year. Before that, Jones helped lead the Orange to the 1985 Big East Tournament Championship and their
first two NCAA Tournament appearances in 1985 and 1988. Everything that's going up is going in. Two
points for Vera Jones. Jones completed her basketball career as one of the most prolific three-point
shooters in school history.
Vera scored 1113 career points, which still ranks 20th on the Orange women's basketball scoring list.
Jones was inducted into the Syracuse University Orange Plus Hall of Fame in 2002. Vera transitioned
from student athlete to coach. On the sidelines, she coached at Dayton, Indiana, and Florida Atlantic.
Through every step of her professional life, Jones has used her Newhouse degrees in broadcast journalism
and television, radio, and film.
Her resume includes more than a decade of experience as a radio personality. In 1994, she was honored
as the South Carolina Broadcasters Association Personality of the Year, and she has also acted with
the Paul Robeson Performing Arts Company and performed stand-up comedy. An accomplished author, she
has written several books, including Play Through the Foul, which empowers young people to fight through
adversity with the power of faith, vision, unity, perseverance, and purpose.
Jones is active in many civic organizations, including the Celebrity Hoops for Hope charity basketball
game in Kansas, the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired,
the Florida Association of School Administrators, and has served on the school improvement committee
of the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind. In the fall of 2017,
Jones moderated the Syracuse University Coming Back Together Minority Sports Panel and was a guest panelist
at the ESPNW event for Syracuse's female student athletes. Today, Jones is a professional development
coach through Vera's Voice Works, an organization she founded to coach, empower, and energize individuals
and organizations to overcome their fouls to achieve success. She is also an author, an award-winning
television and radio broadcaster for the Big Ten Network, and a successful motivational speaker. Vera Jones.
letter winner of distinction. Okay, because she earned it, I'm going to read a few more of her accolades.
So our keynote speaker tonight is an inspiring, funny, and relatable motivational speaker, author, coach,
and award-winning TV and radio broadcasting veteran. Vera Jones is most widely known for her basketball
analyst work with ESPN,
Fox Sports, MSG, WNBA, and the Big Ten Network. She has coached Division I college basketball, including
here at IU, performed on the stage as an actress with the Paul Robeson Performing Arts Company, and
even entertained inebriated hecklers as a stand-up comedian.
An MTI certified mediator and trainer in conflict resolution, Vera earned her master's degree from Syracuse
University's prestigious Newhouse School of Communications. As president of Vera's VoiceWorks, founder
of the Perseverance Speakers Academy and the University of North Florida professor of public speaking,
she uses her communication gifts to inspire,
educate and develop others through various training forums. She is particularly fond of empowering girls
and women to whistle their way to significance and success. Get ready for a proud Boys and Girls Club
of America Alumni Hall of Famer from sunny Jacksonville, Florida, Vera Jones.
Check, check, check. Mic check, mic check, mic check, mic check. Yes, yes, I'm there. I forgot my clicker.
I'm literally emotional. I don't even know where, I don't know, it could have been like hot flashes.
I'm not really sure what happened, but I just got emotional. Anytime I'm asked to speak, obviously I'm
thrilled, I'm honored, but there's something special about the Boys and Girls Club.
When I was inducted into the Hall of Fame, Alumni Hall of Fame two years ago, first of all, I didn't
even understand why. I was like, are you sure you got the right person? Clearly they hadn't talked to
my roommate in college. But to be able to come back to Bloomington where I had a beautiful, beautiful
stay for only a year, it's just touching. So thank you so much for thinking enough of me
to help you represent tonight, which I feel is a very big night. And it's simple, it's just so simple.
Smart girls, strong women. Smart girls, strong women. So to even be in the neighborhood of conversation
for those powerful words, it gives me great honor.
So I want to take you on a little journey, if I may. I want to share my story. That's the only way I
know how to do it. This is going to be not a speech. It's going to be what I call an experience, because
I have a background in theater, and I feel you should experience it, all right? So we're gonna go on
a little empowerment journey about smart girls and strong women. And I titled this one, Girls Don't
Whistle. There's a question mark at the end of that.
I want to invite you to four stories that are going to help you beware of biases, improvise to impair
the imposter, holistically heal, and to engage with empathy. And the reason I came up with these is
I started thinking about smart girls and strong women. And if I were to throw together the ingredients,
what would I include? And those four things are important.
So here's the little journey. Even before we start, I do teach public speaking. I am a public speaker.
Number one rule is know your audience. So let me see who's sitting in here, all right? Let's get a little
poll going, and we're gonna do it the old-fashioned way by a show of hands. How would you rate your
level of self-awareness, right? Would you say A, you're extremely self-aware? Any takers? Okay.
Good. What about B, usually self-aware? That's usually the big one in the room, yeah. C, sometimes
self-aware? That's very honest, actually. D, I rarely think about my self-awareness. No takers there.
Okay, how about E, I'm extremely self-unaware I'm in a walking coma. Any takers there? Couple of you,
couple of you. Get them coffee, paramedics, whatever. Got a couple of walking comas in here.
The reason I ask is because, to me, self-awareness is everything. It's everything, especially when you're
talking about smart girls and strong women. So here's a quick test. Let's see how aware you really are.
Here's this for the math heads. I want you to assume aces are worth 11, quickly double the value of
each card, and add them up. Ready, go. Soon as you get it, stand up. I got a prize for you. Soon as
you get it, what's the right answer? What you got? Sit down.
What you got? 39? What you got? Yes! We got a winner right here. Keep hers. He's right up in front.
We'll remember. Give her a round of applause. What's your name? It's 50. It's 50. All right. I knew
there were some math heads. I love doing this because it takes the pressure off of me and finds somebody
else. Everybody else has a sweat bullet. It's not me up here on stage, right? So here's the thing. If
I were to say to you, okay, let's take a look at those cards again.
Anybody notice this? Anybody notice anything a little different here? I'm assuming everybody's seen
a deck of cards before. Ever seen black hearts? Ever? Ever. Right there in plain sight, the cards were
there. And yet, anybody that's ever seen a deck of cards would go, that's just odd. Why is the four
black? It should be red.
What we just witnessed is called something or something called inattentional blindness bias, which refers
to a psychological lack of attention. Basically, it causes us to miss things that are right there in
plain sight. The danger of this is if we don't see something, we automatically assume that it did not
happen, wasn't there. Police officers run into this all the time when they come to the scene of the crime.
Oh my goodness, and then she was screaming and some guy hauled her off in a white van. And you go to
the next person. It wasn't a white van. I saw a guy with a blue Corolla and he was arguing with his
wife. Right? And police officers like this is never, this case is never going to get solved. If we don't
see something, we automatically assume it did not happen.
We don't see what we aren't looking for. Had I told you, take a look at those cards before you add them
up, someone would have stood up right away and said, yeah, yeah, yeah, the four of hearts is black,
it should be red. The biggest danger is when we don't see what we're not looking for pertains to our
own negativity, our own biases, and our blind spots. I do a lot of work in and out of corporate and
government,
tons of people who I coach. And one of the biggest things that I have to help them do is just tap into
their own self-awareness for the better and for the worse. You may not know this, but there are over
180 cognitive biases that affect our data processing, our critical thinking, and the way we perceive
reality. And every day we feel like we know it. I know it all.
Inattentional blindness bias is very, very frustrating for many of us, okay? But there's an opportunity
there. Right when I started, I'd say 85, 90% of the room said that they were aware. The reality is,
the studies show only 90%. 90% will say that they are aware, but only 10 to 15 really are.
If we're not aware of ourselves, how much are we aware of others, our culture, and how often do we pay
attention to the limitations that others have set upon us? Many of us are living an entire life based
on what someone said when we were in the second grade that we could or could not do. So my first story
resonates with this whole thought process.
See, at the age of about seven, it's where the girls don't whistle comes from, I wanna let you know
my dad was everything. My father was an engineer, he was the smartest man I had ever met. I love my
dad and I don't want you to think anything bad about my dad, but I gotta tell you a story about my dad.
So I'm going around the house, I'm seven years old, and I found out that I had this amazing talent,
this was long before
you know, any of the American Idol type shows, but I couldn't wait to share my talent. And my talent
sounded like this. Anybody know it? You know it? You're showing your aides. You're showing your aides
if you know it.
hot stuff. At seven years of age, I could whistle the theme song to the Andy Griffith Show. I was so
amazed at me, and I could not control it every chance I got it. I was whistling that thing over and
over and over again. Well, my dad, I guess, didn't like the Andy Griffith Show. I'm not sure what happened
to him. But out of the blue, nicest man you ever met.
But on this day, one day, he snaps and says, shut up all that noise. Well, I was a reporter long before
I was a reporter. And I was like, why daddy? Why? Why? He said, you're making all that noise. And plus,
girls don't whistle. And I don't know why, but it felt like a dagger had just went through my heart.
Because I didn't understand.
Here was the smartest man I had ever met, the man I love more than anything and anybody, telling me
that I couldn't do something that I clearly was doing. And I was quite talented. The whole theme song?
Seriously? So I stopped whistling, at least in his presence. But when I talk about self-awareness, I
was learning even then that I was a rebel. I whistled every chance I got.
And by the time I was nine, I told my mama to get me a flute because it was the best thing or closest
thing to a whistle. And I played in a marching band. And I was like, you may not like whistling, but
I have to practice. Hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo. It was pretty funny. I did that to annoy my dad.
Girls don't whistle? What did he mean? Well, let's go back for a second. My dad was born in 1928.
And back in 1920s, there were a lot of things that girls and women just weren't supposed to do. Heck,
we weren't even allowed to vote for a while. It's only been 50 years that women could have their own
bank account in their own name, get their own credit card without a male signature, had to get a brother
or a husband or somebody, had to do it. So he came up in a time that there were very traditional roles
of what a woman was supposed to do.
But this was the 1970s. I wanted to whistle. That was reserved for men whistling at women. Women weren't
supposed to whistle. What I was experiencing then, and I know now, but I didn't know it then, was something
called implicit bias. Implicit bias basically is attitudes or stereotypes or stigmas that affect our
understanding
and decisions in a very unconscious manner, right? Like it's activated involuntarily. It's not something
that he meant to do. It was just something that he believed for whatever reason without intention. Question,
how did you learn about bias of any kind? Did you challenge that bias or did you just go ahead and believe
that somebody said way back when somehow,
Are you aware of the impact of your self-perception of stereotypes, again, that were placed on you a
long time ago? Stigma, prejudice, limitations, all stimulated by something someone else said. So I went
on to become a rebel. Not only were girls not allowed to whistle, they weren't supposed to play sports.
I was very grateful for Title IX back in the 70s that allowed that fairness and equity in schools.
Girls don't play sports. That's what my mom told me. I was learning then that the purpose of pursuing
my passion was to one day to put passion back into my purpose. Basketball took me to that full scholarship
to Syracuse University. There I am back in the 80s with a bad hair day. Clearly some things never change.
It took me some places, taught me many things.
Basketball allowed me to be a coach, as you heard before, even right here at Indiana University. That's
where I was learning how to strategize and give back and really just be a part of something bigger than
myself, how to be a mentor. That felt good to me. And I was even learning communication. The communication
expertise, basketball gave me an opportunity to run my mouth for over 30 years as a sports broadcaster
at ESPN and the Big Ten Network.
and various radio stations across the country and so much more. I cannot imagine what I would do if
I didn't learn how to play through the fouls that basketball taught me, the parallels of fouls that
happen on the court as well as off. Life comes full of fouls. And not being able to do something I was
good at because someone else said that I couldn't because of a stereotype or stigma would have been
too much to bear.
I'm not sure where I would have been without a basketball in my hand, without a whistle in my spirit.
The second story I want to share with you extends beyond college. I was still trying to find myself
and I decided that I wanted to become a radio broadcaster. But I wasn't any radio broadcaster. I started
out doing rock and pop and then I got a job doing love songs.
B105.9. And you could never just say, hi, I'm playing all of your favorite songs. Coming up, Air Supply
will do something from Journey, and I've got that favorite from Anita Baker. Love songs. There was always
like the breath. Love songs. I love doing that. Well, one night I was out doing love songs, and the
competitor
from across the way, I guess, became a fan. I'm on at seven o'clock at night, he becomes a fan, and
suddenly he says, hey, you know, we want you to come and work for us across town. We're gonna put you
on in the morning show, pay you big bucks, and you're gonna do this thing. We want you to take us to
number one in the market. And I said, this all sounds good. Sign me up, when do I get the job? He left
one little thing out. Well, first he told me, he said,
Vera doesn't work, though. What's your middle name? I was like, oh, Roberta. My mom and dad had a bad
sense of humor. My name's Vera Roberta Jones. He was like, Roberta, Roberta. Bobby, Bobby, that's it.
We're going to call you Bobby. Bobby Jones. That's a good radio name. I was like, all right, cool.
I was like, but why would you change my name? He said, because we're a country radio station.
Let it sink in, sweetie.
98.9% of black people don't listen to country music. But I got this job, and I was going to be a morning
show host at Gator 107.9, and every morning at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, I'd wake up and I'd put
on this voice right here at Gator 107.9, woo-wee! Sweet old boot scoot buggy! Bobby Jones did country radio!
Tell me, I can whistle. I can figure out how to be a country radio DJ. I can do it. Well, Bobby Jones
went on. This story is about improvising to impair the imposter. So many of us grow up with this imposter
syndrome that we can't be something else again because someone else said that we weren't good enough.
And I probably wasn't good enough, but I was more than willing to try.
Because I knew from a long time ago, I just love to improvise. Some people say, fake it till you make
it. I just believe in improvising. We all have that gift and talent. We don't tap into that part or
those parts of our brains often enough. Sometimes the solution to your problem is just learning to create
from what you already have to develop something else in the future. I went on.
One of the biggest awards I ever received was the South Carolina Broadcasters Association Personality
of the Year for the state of South Carolina. Biggest award I ever received. Thank you. Thank you. Little
Shania Twain. I boot scoot boogied all the way down that aisle. Again, just improvise. I was grateful,
so very, very grateful that I had heard a motivational speaker and one heck of a basketball coach, Pat
summit. She passed away in 2016 but not before she left the legacy on the court and off. Pat came to
Syracuse University when I was in college. It was the first time I heard a quote unquote motivational
speech. Always said I want to do something like that one day. Ta-da! And one day Pat basically told
this story when she was working at a camp. She said there was a little traveling circus that used to
go around.
and you all may have heard this story, but there was a little traveling circus that used to go all around
the country. And in this traveling circus, they had the lions and tigers and bears, oh my, and they
also had these ginormous elephants.
And so a little girl goes with her grandfather, and she goes and says, Grandpa, wow, look at this elephant,
or this beast, this animal. She had never seen an elephant before. And Grandpa goes on to tell her all
about the elephant. Yeah, and it's strong, and it weighs 4,000 pounds, and blah, blah, blah, blah. But
she noticed something very interesting. There was just a little tiny rope around the elephant's leg.
And she said, Grandpa,
How do they get that big elephant just to stay in place and just walk in those circles and just walk
around? And it doesn't run off. It's so big and strong and powerful. And he said, well, you see that
little rope around the leg? She said, that's all it is. He could break that rope anytime. Said, yeah,
but the problem is is when the elephant was just a little baby, they put a great big strong
jaws of life type chain around its leg. And every time the elephant would try to walk farther than they
wanted it to, that pain, it would feel the pain of the clasp of the jaws of that, of that thing, basically
keeping it from moving. She was like, wow. And we know that elephants have great memories.
And so even after elephant got bigger and bigger and bigger, because they had tied it into this huge
cinder block that would just cause it pain every time it tried to move. But as it got older, it could
have still just ripped it right apart. But the memory of the pain that was caused kept it from charging
forward. I often think about those elephant chains in our lives and how many of us move through life
not becoming what we want to become because of the elephant chains. And at that moment, I needed some
money and I wanted to become a country radio DJ, so I let them elephant chains go. Imposter syndrome
is real, especially for women. There's a KPMG study that says 75% of female executives across all industries
have experienced imposter syndrome.
Imposter syndrome, 52 out of 500, Fortune 500 chief executives are women, but they study, or they struggle
with imposter syndrome. Many of us have to overcome this imposter syndrome. And what's interesting is
it's there in 25 to 30% of high achievers. Many of us have perfectionist tendencies, so we don't do
as well because we're too afraid to try because we might fail.
Imposter syndrome in young girls is very, very real. That is why improvisation is your number one choice.
Just think about another creative way to conquer it. Girls tend to be very creative. They like art and
music. Do we continue to encourage them to do those things that might stimulate ways to improvise? The
third story
takes a turn. As I got older, I did. I achieved great heights. I lived my dream of ever getting into
national television, sitting alongside my idol Robin Roberts, who's now with Good Morning America. Everything
I had ever achieved and wanted to do, and then slowly things started falling apart. While I was here
at Indiana University, I'd only been here a year as an assistant coach when I got the call that my mother
had died suddenly of a heart attack. My father was turning 80 that year and I knew I had to get home
and I had to take care of him. Suddenly my career came to a crashing halt. I had also just gone through
a very painful divorce. I took a job that I didn't want to take but I needed to take. I was a single
mom taking care of a son and trying to take care of my father. I was going through a lot at a very difficult time.
One day, still trying to stay in shape, which is a joke in and of itself, I was out doing what I want
to call the jog, but it wasn't. It was kind of like this high booty fast walk like this. But I wanted
to call it a jog, but yeah, I was getting older. And I was outside one day and then in the Florida heat
and all of a sudden I heard this, it felt like I could hear my heart beating through my chest. I mean,
I could hear it.
And then I got, like, this hot feeling that was going all the way up my arm and down my leg,
and it's just my... the whole left side of my body was just... I've never experienced anything like
it before, especially in my neck. And then, suddenly, I couldn't breathe, and I started sweating profusely.
I was outside jogging with a very bad boyfriend who ended up rushing me to a hospital, and I realized
that I had not done my due diligence to holistically heal
a lot of broken hearted fouls that had taken place in my life. In 2014, I was rushed to that hospital.
They thought I was having a heart attack. I was 47 years of age. My mother had died suddenly from a
heart attack. I never thought that it would happen to me because I was an athlete and I was in shape
and I could conquer anything. But it did happen to me.
And so that you're clear on who you're dealing with, there are, I did check this statistic, there are
one and two billion people will ever take a selfie in the midst of having a heart attack. So I wanted
you to just know who you're dealing with. Turns out after four, I was like a bad episode of House, after
four different
specialists came in and I lay in a hospital for a week and they ran stents at my leg and did all of
these tests, I didn't have a heart attack at all. I had something called stress-induced tachycardia.
I had become so stressed trying to achieve heights and high levels and deal with so much stress in my
life that my heart began to pump fast all the time. It kind of stayed at about 100 to 120 beats a minute
even when it was supposed to be at rest. Stress
Nothing else. The doctor told me to go home. Once they finally figured out what was causing it, he brought
me in the office and he said, I want you to go home. I don't ever want you to step foot in my office
again. You have the arteries of a 14-year-old. What you need to do is stop stressing, and every night
I want you to have a glass of red wine. So if the people from Oliver Winery are still here, then can
help me with my health issues, that would be great.
Right? You literally did. Go home and have a glass of red wine every night. Take a chill pill.
Stop it. Sometimes we do too much, and I want to ask you, especially the women in here, have you taken
the time to check on your own mental wellness? Because stress is a huge foul. These are the different
images. You got to be careful because you'll pass it on to your children, right?
We stress over so much, and women report experiencing stress at a higher rate than men. Some studies
show up to 50% more. Why? Because men stress us out, that's why. Pay attention. Sorry guys, sorry guys.
We love you, we love you, but you stress us out, you stress us out. And teen girls report persistent
sadness or hopelessness.
57% of the time. That is scary. 57% of the time. We have a mental health crisis. In the United States, 54.7%
of individuals with a clinical-level mental health problem do not seek help. That means even right here
today, half of the people in here who should be taking a chill pill are not.
So I just want you to keep that in mind because it's very personal to me. Are you aware of your stress?
Are you staying balanced? Extremely important, especially for our young girls. So if you want smart
girls, strong women, that mental health piece has to be factored in. And the last story is probably
the biggest one that I leave people with, and it's basically called Leadership 6S.
I encourage you to engage with empathy. Empathy is now the branding that people use to call me, they
call me the empathy coach. I talk a lot about empathy, I live a life of empathy. Because when my son
was 12 years of age, my son who was here with me in Bloomington, some of the people had an opportunity
to meet him, he was just a little seven year old then.
At the age of 12, he was outside playing football with the neighborhood kids, and he came in screaming
and yelling and crying, mom, mom, help me, help me. And I said, what's wrong? What's wrong? He said,
mom, something's wrong with my eyes. And I had heard him complaining many, many times about headaches
and blurred vision. But this time, it was different. I was getting ready to go off to the Big Ten Network.
I knew that I had to be away, and that motherly instinct said, this time get them into the doctor before
you go away. It was a Sunday. On a Thursday, I had to be in Chicago. On Monday morning, I got them in.
I took them to the doctor, and I explained that my son was complaining about the headaches. He was playing
football with neighborhood kids, and all of a sudden, he just blacked out. He just passed out, and Mom, help me.
something's wrong with my eyes, and he started screaming, and I don't know, I just think it's something.
And she says, this sounds a lot like migraines. I said, no, I know a lot of people with migraines. I
don't think it's migraines. And I said, plus, he actually said that he was playing football, and Noah
went to throw the pass, and when he went to catch it, he blacked out. He totally blacked out, and he
flipped over an electrical box.
And I said, what is that? I mean, for him to totally black out, I don't think that's a migraine.
She said, a lot of people get migraines so badly that they do black out. And I said, look, I watch House
and Grey's Anatomy. And I'm trying to tell you, that ain't no migraine. It's not a migraine. I said,
plus he's stuck on about 4 foot 10. We have height in our family. I just don't, something's wrong. So
she checks his chart, and she looked at it, and she said, yeah.
Your son hasn't grown in the last year. At the age of 12, you're supposed to be sprouting out, sprouting
up. So they fast forward. On Wednesday, give him an MRI. An hour and a half after that MRI, I found
out that my son had a very large brain tumor called a cranial pharyngeoma. It took the very breath out
of my chest.
I stood in front of a neurosurgeon as they said he was in danger. They had to get him into emergency
surgery. They said there was a good chance that my son would die. They would do everything they could
to save his life. But even if they saved his life, there was a really good chance that my son would
be blind and they would do everything they could to protect his sight. No matter what, if he lived,
he would have to live on steroids and a lot of artificial things to keep him alive every day.
My son went into surgery and I was realizing that even then that empathy was supposed to be the way
that I live and guide my son. Empathy is not babysitting. Empathy was going to have to be the way that
I had to figure out how to get into his shoes to guide him so that he could make it through life.
My son went through that surgery. He came out of that surgery with a brain tumor. They were able to
get the brain tumor, but he did indeed lose his sight. The hardest thing for my son was not that he
dealt with blindness or a lot of physical ailments. For me, it was the emotional part.
that suddenly a typically happy-go-lucky kid that suddenly now was gaining a lot of weight, he was blind,
he was hearing impaired, he had all of these issues that he would go to school and get bullied and picked
on because he was different. For no other reason, same kid, different circumstances. And I realize now
that his elephant chains were starting to show up. The craniofaryngeoma did indeed disappear.
But the elephant chains were huge. And now I had to figure out what I was supposed to do to help Drew.
And I was learning that empathy was the way. They brought in Tibbs, that was the seeing eye dog, who
told me things had just gotten rough. And they had. They had gotten really rough.
because I had to get that honorary PhD in empathy that comes from parenting in order to understand a
lot about bullies and naysayers, a lot about the limitations that we put on ourselves called self-doubt,
a lot about those elephant chains. Empathy became the way that I learned to become compassionate and
innovative. I learned to be better and not bitter.
I learned to be stronger and not stranger, wiser and not weaker. Every single day, Sherry talked about
mentorship. We live in a world where we're supposed to bring our A game. Supposed to bring the A game,
but how do you bring your A game when every day we're dealing with life's conflict tests with Ds? Divorce,
death, disease, disability,
displacement, depression, all of these D's, and we cover it up with drugs and alcohol. Our young people
need to see us overcome this. But it's difficult to overcome it when you do not have the compassion
and support of others to help you do that. And that is why I say one of the greatest things that we
have going for us is empathy. So I wrote me a book about it after 10 years of researching.
I decided empathy was what I wanted to know all about, and I wanted to help motivate the 80 to 85% who
have no idea what motivates them, especially in the time of adversity. As an emotionally intelligent
quick fact, I want you to know this. Neither men or women have proven to be more emotionally intelligent
overall, so don't believe the hype. However, men do outperform women in the EQ skills of assertiveness
and confidence,
Women, however, outperform men in the emotional intelligence skills of empathy and interpersonal
relationships. Why is that important? Because of smart girls and strong women. Even the men in this
room, if you had a good mom, will realize that everything you learned about compassion and caring and
reaching out and helping others, so much of it came from a strong mom.
a smart mom, or maybe it was a sister, or maybe it was another mentor or an auntie in your life. Because
for women, empathy is our superpower. And for so many years, one of the stigmas we've been told is that
we're too soft. You're too soft. You're too emotional. And maybe to some degree, at some levels, perhaps.
But I would argue that compassion, what is called soft,
That ability to dig deep and feel within your own heart so that you could care about someone else to
guide them through their troubles, that's a superpower. And men, you have it too. And the girls and
women in your life need more of it. There's nothing wrong with a world that becomes a little
more compassionate. I'm gonna vote yes every single time.
So here are your final to-dos. I am a coach, as Sherri said. Got to make you go do something. Here's
what I'd love you to do. I want you to find that little girl. Talk to her. And it may even be the little
girl ladies that's inside of you. When's the last time you tapped into that? She's still there. She
still has big dreams.
silly things she wants to do and try and create and start a business and sing, whistle. She still has
things she wants to do. Talk to her. Ask her about those dreams. Tell her she is a beautiful, capable,
improvising and strong elephant. Help her holistically heal. Tap into the things that may have got her
a little off balance with her wellness.
whether it's the one inside of you or a young woman that you're trying to help. Empathically encourage
her. And after you do that, reach out and encourage a few more. Because to me, that's what the world
needs more of. And also remind her that it's perfectly okay for her to whistle. Thank you very much
for having me. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you so much. Wasn't Vera amazing? Yeah, one more little round of applause for Vera.
So as a Boys and Girls Club Hall of Famers, got her little jacket on with her Boys and Girls Club Hall
of Fame patch on it.
We saw Vera speak at a conference a couple of years ago and at the end of the conference and we heard
her mention IU and Jeff looked at me and I looked at Jeff and we said, we're gonna beeline back to that
table and get her to Bloomington. So I am so thankful that you're here. I'm thankful that you spoke
to us today. So inspiring, such good reminders for all of us about where we need to focus, right? I
heard this really good quote the other day about time and people say, you know, I don't have enough
time. They said, replace that with I'm not prioritizing. I don't have enough time for my health.
If you replaced it with, I'm not prioritizing my health, how does that sit with you? If it doesn't sit
with you, then you should make the time for it, right? I don't have enough time to spend more time with
my children. Oh, I'm not prioritizing spending more time with my children, right? I love that because
it helps us to refocus on what is important to us, where we all have the same amount of time, actually,
in any given day, and we get to choose to use it in a way that impacts other people.
We get to use it in a way that brings empathy, that brings support, that brings life, and it brings
truth. And thank you for that reminder, Vera. That was very special. I really appreciate it. This night
is full of all kinds of women, like Sherry and Vera, sitting in this room, making an impact on people.
And I want to tell you about one more. And I'm really excited to bring other people up to talk about
some inspiring women tonight so that we'll really be full of inspiration for all the beautiful things
happening in our community.
woman that I knew who was one of my favorite strong women was named Ann St. John. How many of you knew
Ann St. John? Wait about me. Yeah, Ann St. John was a wonderful, let's get a round of applause for Ann
St. John. We love Ann St. John. I met Ann 10 years ago and she taught me one of the most valuable lessons
in my life. She was a strong female leader in this community.
She was a bold supporter of the Boys and Girls Club. She would tell anybody who asked her that. She
loved the girls that attended this program in this club. And when I first met Anne, I was struggling
to find my voice, maybe that imposter syndrome a little bit, right? Struggling to find my place, struggling
to find my style as a new professional. Who was I going to be? And I had coffee with Anne and I said,
I really just need to figure out how I can be more like Jeff.
made this crazy face at me. And I'll never forget that face of Anne St. John's in my mind. And she goes,
you absolutely do not need to figure out how to be more like Jeff. The world has a Jeff Baldwin. The
world needs a Leslie Absher. And I said, okay, Anne, okay, I hear you. Yes, yes. And I asked
and some questions about who should I be and how should I be and what should it look like. And her answer
always was, it should look like me. And she kept asking me questions instead, which we heard from Vera
as well. And we heard from Sherry that the best way to mentor somebody is to help them reflect and ask
their questions of themselves. And she told me that no one else can be me. And that if I don't bring
my whole self to this world, then I am robbing the world
of what I can bring. That each and every one of you bring something totally different and unique. You
are placed in this world to play your part, to bring your gifts and to bring your talents and to bring
your abilities. And when you try to show up like somebody else, the world is missing out on you. And
I'll never forget that. And from that moment forward, I decided right or wrong, whether people like
it or not, this is me. And I have to bring me.
to the table. And I've shared that story a lot with girls at the club, with teens in the circle who
are struggling with their own identity and trying to emulate or be like somebody else, because we all
struggle with that a little bit, don't we? And really reminding people to just be themselves. And Anne
really is the reason that I carry that message with me in my life. Anne was definitely a strong woman.
She modeled that for me.
She was a panelist in 2018 and she shared her story about being a female entrepreneur and a business
owner. And she also shared her personal battle with cancer at that event. It was moving and
it was inspirational. And Anne was a part of the club family and she was a joy to so many in this community.
2019, Anne did pass away from cancer. And it was a great loss to all of us who knew Anne. She was the
epitome of a strong woman. And in 2021, the club gave its first female award
at this Smart Girls Strong Women event. And we decided that we would give an award to a staff member
who has been a mentor to help young girls be themselves, to support them, to encourage them to be who
they are. And we decided we wanted to continue this award every single year and who better to name it
after than Anne St. John. Many people know Anne as the founder of St. John Associates. She was tenacious
and friendly and a joy to all who knew her, but our next guest knew her
as sister. So please welcome Jane St. John to present the Anne St. John Award. Thank you, Leslie.
Thank you, Sherry. And thank you, Vera. It's a privilege to be here. I have been working with a physical
therapist on my shoulders.
Last week as I left her office, after 40 minutes of moving and manipulation, she said to me, shoulders
back, chest out, what I'm saying is, Jane, be as tall as you really are. As I was driving home, I thought,
I'm tall enough. With some heels, I'm even taller. But I knew what she meant, and I bet you do too.
With a bit of effort, some days more than others, we can all be as tall as we really are. My sister,
Ann St. John, was that rare person who was as tall as she really was. And even more, she was a person
who made people in her orbit as tall as they really are. That is how Ann St. John stood out.
And you know when someone is talking about posture, and we all start to shift in our chairs in the ways
that improve our posture? Stretch our backs, adjust our feet, move our shoulders? Ann made us shift
in our seats all the time. And it's not something that happens once. We have to correct our posture
almost every time we think of it. How did that show up with Ann?
What did she do that helped us check our posture? She was on time for appointments. She worked out four
days a week. She made every Valentine's Day at her company a day of philanthropic giving, and employees
got to choose local nonprofits to receive donations. In helping to create the habitat for humanity women
build, she wanted it a requirement not just to show up to work,
but to raise money, too, in order to get the privilege to work. She put time restraints on her requests.
We need 100 coats, 100 coats for kids, and right now, thank you very much. The question wasn't just
how much can we comfortably give, but what is the need and how can we all get there combining our efforts?
She had the answer to that question.
and she was happy to share it with you and tell you your part. You've been voluntold to do something,
and St. John was the original Volonteller. And the ways that she gave made us squirm, sit up,
and give more. As we get together here every year and enjoy this dinner, it's an opportunity for us
to ask ourselves,
Are we being as tall as we really are? I mean, we're tall enough, aren't we? We're serving hundreds
of boys and girls, as we've heard, and we are sitting in this beautiful space, right? So I put this
question specifically related to this club, our club, to Leslie Absher. Are we being as tall as we can
be? And here's what I learned.
The total capacity of all locations combined in this club is about 870 children per day. The highest
day of attendance we've had is 706 children. So this means that with enough funding, we could serve
as many as 160 more boys and girls. With $120,000 per year,
we could cover the capacity to serve up to 160 more children. Am I asking us to raise $120,000
more tonight? Why not? At the very least, I challenge you to see what tweaks you can make in your giving
posture. And please, in the spirit of Anne, be as tall as you really are.
The purpose of the Anne St. John Strong Woman Award is to recognize someone within the Boys and Girls
Club community who has engaged in posture that has resulted in exemplary service to the club. This year's
Anne St. John Strong Woman Award goes to Latonya Benson.
to you about how Latonya has earned this award. Latonya was nominated by seven different members of
the staff at the Boys and Girls Club who recognized her as a strong woman. They said the following about
her, Latonya is not just a leader, she's a mentor, a visionary, and a consistent, excuse me, constant
source of strength and love in her club community.
Latonya serves as the unit director of the Steve and Connie Ferguson Cresmont Club, where we are, a
space where hundreds of children walk through the doors each week knowing they will be delighted in,
seen, heard, and valued. That culture exists because Latonya fiercely protects it. One of her nominators
said, to the family she serves, she's not just Miss Latonya, she's Auntie. She's cousin.
She's the person who shows up when others don't and who always expects more because she believes deeply
in the potential of every child. Latonya sets high expectations for her members and she holds them to
those expectations with consistency and delivers that message with love and grace. She believes in their
leadership, their strength, and their worth even when they don't believe it themselves. She is not afraid
to challenge them, to push them,
or to call them into greatness. But her leadership doesn't stop with the kids. Latonya invests in her
staff in the same way. She knows when to step in and when to step back, always encouraging others to
grow into their leadership, to try new things, and to build programs that bring out the best in our
youth. As one nominator put it, she's the kind of leader who builds other leaders.
What makes Latonya truly extraordinary is her ability to lead with both strength and compassion. She
models what it means to be a smart, strong woman in every decision she makes, and she holds space for
others to rise alongside her. She's constantly seeking new partnerships, new ideas, new ways to make
the club experience better, not because someone told her to, but because she believes our kids deserve
the very best, and she's going to give them nothing less.
One of her colleagues said it best, Latonya does not expect behavior, attitudes or standards from anyone,
members, staff or families that she does not personally embody every single day. That's leadership,
that's integrity, that's heart. Latonya lives and breathes the mission of the Boys and Girls Club to
serve the children who need us most to reach their full potential
and to ensure that where you come from does not determine where you go. Her presence changes lives quietly,
consistently, powerfully, and tonight we are so proud to recognize her as the winner of the Anne St.
John Strong Women Award.
Thank you, Latonya, for your leadership, your heart, and the legacy you're building one child at a time.
Please join me after all of that awesomeness in celebrating one of the brightest lights in our organization,
Ms. Latonya Benson.
We love Latonya here at the club and we have so many wonderful female staff and male staff as well that
are really influencing and caring for our kids. It's just really a joy to have people that dedicate
their whole lives to serving youth and we are so thankful for Latonya and who she is. She's a wonderful
staff member and certainly deserving of this award. Thank you, Jane, for being here on your birthday.
I know she didn't want me to mention anything, but we love you, Jane. Thank you, Jane.
We're so happy to be able to honor Anne in this way every year and to have her family with us is very
meaningful, so thank you so much. We're thankful to be able to honor her legacy this way. We love being
able to recognize these strong women and we love to be able to honor the mentors that are serving in
our club, but we also want to tell you about what's happening.
when those mentors stand up and say yes. So we're really excited to tell you a little bit more about
the programs that are being funded by this evening tonight. So we have 33 years ago in 1992, the Boys
and Girls Club started serving girls, which is great. It went from the Boys Club of Bloomington to the
Boys and Girls Clubs of Bloomington. So very excited to be serving girls. And right now, girls represent
about 48% of all of our membership. So about half of our members are girls in our buildings every single
day. And so we are continuing to grow, as Jane mentioned, and we are able to
serve more kids in our buildings. And one of the ways that we decide to serve kids is not only in our
buildings, but we go to where they are and we meet them where they're at. One of the programs that you're
going to hear about now that is funded by this event tonight is a girls circle program.
The Girls Circle program was our solution, in a way, to serve teenagers who maybe don't feel like coming
to a Boys and Girls Club after school, because that's where all the little kids are. We have really
awesome teen spaces in our clubs. And actually, we are seeing 30 teens in this club and about 60 teens
in Ellitsville and about 30 or 40 teens at Lincoln Street. So we do have teens in our building every
single day. But we wanted to reach teens in a different way, in a way that we could meet them where
they were at. So we started going into the high schools and asking the principals in the high schools.
the superintendents if we could meet during the day during like a study hall or off period and start
serving girls in mentorship roles at the schools. And we are.
Today we have circles in six different schools, six different high schools in Monroe County. And we've
got girls in every single one of those circles every week of the year. And we have mentors going into
our buildings and talking to those girls and sharing with them. And the impact that it's having
is tremendous. And so I want to invite one of those mentors up to the stage. Dani actually won our Be
Great Award this year because she has been such a superb volunteer for us. And so I want her to share
a little bit about
experience with the program, but most importantly, the impact that it's having on kids, because that's
really why we're all here tonight. So would you please welcome Dani to share a little bit more. Hi.
So yeah, so I'm a teacher at North High School, and I help facilitate the circle program at North with
Riley and Jade.
And we meet every week for about 40 minutes. And I facilitate getting the kids in there, like working
with counselors and teachers to see who might be a good fit for the program. And so I think I'll just
tell you a little bit about how we get started every week. We start by having one of the girls who's
been there for a little bit talk about our four agreements.
The first agreement is confidentiality. And so they remind the girls that whatever's said in the circle
stays in the circle. And then they talk about no judgment, so that the girls feel safe. And then after
that, they talk about no advice. And this reminds me of what you were talking about, because we want
them to know that they have the wisdom within themselves.
So as they process through and tell their story about how they're feeling and things are going on, then
they can just maybe come up with their own solutions. And it also gives them the chance to speak so
that no one's saying, well, you should do this and you should do that because we want them to know that
they have the chance or they have the wisdom within themselves. And the last thing is respect. And so
that's when the older girls are able to say things that they think
show respect in that circle. So like sitting up or not over talking, talking over anyone, that sort
of thing. So after we go over the four agreements, then the girls, we pass a rock around and they say
how they're feeling. And more often than not, it's, again, what you were talking about, the stress that
people experience. So the girls say they're feeling overwhelmed, they're feeling tired, unmotivated,
angry at a friend, sad about something. And we allow them to elaborate on it, or they can just say that
they're feeling that way. And then we do our activity, and there's all sorts of things we do. But at
the end of it, we go through again, and everyone says how they're feeling at the end. And more often
than not, they're feeling calm, they're feeling energized, they're feeling connected.
happy and so it just really shows Riley and Jade and me how important these circles are because we also
feel the same way sometimes we go into those circles feeling stressed and needing to slow down and that
gives us a chance to slow down and connect with people so yeah I'm really glad we have it at North High
School and I hope it continues that's what I want to say
Thanks, Danny. We appreciate the story. Once being as tall as we can be, we're finding new ways to reach
kids, right? We don't necessarily need to reach them in our buildings all the time. We want to find
ways to reach kids as
many kids as we possibly can. And we've got somewhere between 60 and 70 girls in those circles across
the community that wouldn't be coming into our Boys and Girls Clubs, but they're actively receiving
Boys and Girls Club programming and mentoring because we were thinking differently about how to do it
and figuring out how we can meet kids where they're at and give them what they need. And that is funded
through this event tonight. So we're able to continue to grow that. And we have more kids on wait lists
for those circles. We would love to get more circles going. And if you want to be a mentor, I'll have
to make a plug for that as well. If you'd like to be a part of those circles, it's a big time
commitment, but it's very rewarding. I'm sure that the people in the circles would say they're getting
a lot out of it as well. But if you're interested in that, I'm sure Danny would talk to you about it,
and I would certainly be happy to talk to you about it as well. But that's really what we're here to
do. We're here to meet kids where they're at.
We're here to encourage them. We're here to listen to them. We're here to empower them. We're here to
remind them that they're smart girls and that they can be strong women. And we're here to give them
the tools that they need to have the wisdom within themselves to do that, to be able to move through
life knowing that they are capable. And so we're really excited about what we're going to do tonight.
So I hope you are ready for the most exciting part of the night, although we loved our speakers and
our inspiration. My favorite part is raising money, of course. So we are very excited to move into this
part of the evening.
We've got some really neat packages tonight, and then we've got an opportunity for you to just donate
as well. And so we're thankful for you being part of this part of the evening as well. And one of the
things that we're going to do is I am not a professional auctioneer, so you do not want me running this
part of the show. So we're going to bring somebody up who actually is a professional auctioneer. And
so I'll introduce Paul Wyman. He's the owner of Wyman Group. He's a realtor in the Evansville community,
but is connected really well in Bloomington as well. He's consistently one of the top realtors in the
region, has had lots
professional roles including president of the Indiana Association of Realtors. He's been honored as
a Realtor of the Year and he's an accomplished auctioneer. So not only is he done real estate auctions
but he's also helped raise you know hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Boys and Girls Club. So
he's been here over the last few years donating his time, donating his services to help us to do this
part of the evening. So we're so thankful that he is a proud Boys and Girls Club supporter. He's an
Air Force veteran. He served in Operation Desert Shield in 1990 and he's an honor
honored Airman of the Year and finished his military experience at Grissom Air Force Base in Indiana.
He's also been awarded to the key to the city of Kokomo by the mayor, and he won the state's highest
honor from Governor Eric Holcomb, the Sagamore of the Wabash. Pretty remarkable guy. And we're very
thankful to have him with us tonight. Again, he's graciously donating his services. Please welcome Paul
to the stage. Bloomington, Bloomington. I got no mic. There we go. Bloomington, Indiana. Yes.
In Kokomo, we have so many Purdue fans up there. It's like ridiculous. It is so nice to come back home
here to Bloomington and be with you guys for the evening. Can I get a little more juice on the mic?
Is that possible? All right. First off, let's give Leslie and her whole team a big hand. Can we do that?
Give me a hug you. Wow. What a program tonight. So listen.
There was this pastor and he got before his congregation on a Sunday morning and he said, listen, I
have some really great news and I have some really kind of bad news. Which would you like first? And
the elderly woman sitting in the front row, she said, oh, pastor, please tell us the good news. He said,
well, you're not going to believe this. We have enough money to build our new church.
And the congregation went crazy. They were cheering. This is like, what a wonderful moment. As she looked
at the past, she said, well, what could possibly be the bad news? He said, well, the money's still in
your pocket. All right, that's an auctioneer joke, folks. That's an auctioneer joke. All right.
So listen, it is an honor to be here in all my travels and doing auctioneering. One of my favorite parts
of being an auctioneer is the opportunity to do charity auctions. And I will just tell you, of the charity
auctions we do, the Boys and Girls Club ranks right up there at the top. It doesn't matter what Boys
and Girls Club door that I walk through, when I cross that threshold, there are two things for me. It's
all about inspiration.
The first is the staff. I've never met a staff person at a boys and girls club that isn't just top notch.
When their alarm clock goes off in the morning, their heart and soul is about pouring into the hearts
and souls of kids in our community often who need it the most. What an honor and noble privilege that
is. Give our staff here a big hand if you would.
And truthfully, the second part of the inspiration anytime I cross the threshold is the kids. These
kids are not giving up, they're showing up. And they're showing up to a place where they're getting
love, they're getting hope, and sometimes these walls, this place,
is the only place they get that love and that hope and that nurturing. And so by you all being here
tonight, it makes this opportunity not only incredible, but real and ongoing and sustainable. So it's
a thrill for me to be here with you all in Bloomington again. It's an honor. Thank you for having me.
And listen, folks, we're gonna raise some money tonight to make sure this program keeps going. How about
it? Make some noise for that, huh?
I do have one piece of good news, and then maybe we'll do a little warm up or something here, but I
have one piece of good news. Many generous folks in this room tonight, you can pay all at once tonight
when you're done, or Leslie and her team have said, let's let them pledge. So if you want to make monthly
payments, we can make monthly payments, so bid even higher tonight on the monthly payment program, right?
Absolutely.
We'll do it. You want to give us money? We will help you do that. So if you want to make monthly payments,
we'd be happy to set that up. Yep. You ready to jump in this? Let's go. You ready to go? Yeah. All right,
folks, we've got some awesome, awesome opportunities for you tonight. The first one is the Sip Saver and Shop.
It's the Bloomington Experience. Let's start with the bidding with our first amazing package.
Here we go. What is in this? You're going to start your day with a spectacular walking tour of Oliver
Winery here, Indiana's not only largest, but oldest winery. It's going to be followed by a guided tasting
in their original tasting room for eight people. That in and of itself is a $400 value.
After that, you're going to head downtown and enjoy some of Jankos, Littles, and Grebs' famous spicy
meatballs, head to Verona Park to caffeinate with delicious Verona coffee, get a 30-minute massage from
Balanced Massage, or an IV infusion from Unveiled Health. You can shop for unique finds at Mirth Market,
and if you're feeling creative, grab some friends and book a private floral arrangement class at Three
Blondes Flower Company.
Get up early and do it all or spread out the fun. It doesn't matter, but this is going to be a fun day
in Bloomington, Indiana. Hey there, say there, what are you getting there now? Somebody give me 300.
Anybody got a three, a little bit of 300? I'm going to give a three, now a four. Anybody got a 400?
I got four, now five, a little bit of five, a little bit of $500. I'm at 500, now 600. I'm going to
give a six, a little bit of six. Anybody got six? I got six in the back, now 700.
Oh, I thought we had it that fast. $700. I'm at $700. I'm at $700. I'm at $700. I'm at $700.
I'm at $700. I'm at $700. I'm at $700. I'm at $700. I'm at $700. I'm at $700.
I'm looking for 725. Anybody want to go a quarter one time? 725. Looking for seven and a quarter. I'm
at 700 in the back. I'm going once. It's 700.
There's seven and a quarter, now half, now half and a half and a half, now 75, 775. Oh come on, you
started this up again, you gotta keep going now. 775, let's get this thing to eight, 775 one time, a
little bit of 75. 775, yeah, but I'm gonna do 800 one time. I got 800 now half, eight now half and a
half, a little bit of half one time. Way to get her to 800 though, thank you very much. I'm gonna do
800, looking for eight and a quarter, anybody wanna go 25 more? I'm at 800, I'm going once, I'm going twice,
Sold $800 to bidder number 402. Folks, that is a great start to the evening right there. Thank you very
much. All right, our next item. This is the ultimate lake day experience.
You and nine of your friends, 10 people, ladies and gentlemen, get a fun and relaxation day on the water.
The winning bidder of this Ultimate Lake Day package will get to enjoy eight hours of swimming, boating,
and making memories on Lake Monroe.
you get a 24-foot pontoon boat, which includes all the fuel you'll need for the day, comes stocked with
premium beverages provided by Cardinal Spirits, and all the essential boat day tumblers, everything
you're gonna need, towels, floats, accessories, whatever we need for a day out of the office, a day
on the lake, you and nine of your friends, 10 people, Spirits by Cardinal, here we go, somebody give
me 500 for a day on the lake. I got 500 now, six.
Anybody come back in at 800, look over 800, 750, 725.
Oh, your whole group wants to go. They're looking at you. Come on, let's go. Seven and a quarter. Now
what time? They want to go to Lake. Seven and a quarter. I'm at 700. Now a quarter. Anybody else want
to come in for a quarter? 725 one time. That'll be a 72. 725. I'm at 700. You notice how everybody's
nodding at you, but they're not raising their bid paddles. Have you ever noticed that when you're getting
all the pressure and everybody's looking at you, you're like, raise your paddle one time, right? Seven
and a quarter. I'm at 700 going once.
I'm at 700 going twice. This is your chance right here. Oh, seven and a quarter in the back, a new bidder.
I'm going to bid a quarter and a half, quarter and a half, one time 750, now $800. Yeah, but nobody
wait one time, anybody like 800, 800, 775.
There it is, 800 now. You haven't had any way one time, little bit of 800 on time. 800, your whole group's
in for eight all day. 800 now, 825, little bit of quarter one time, little bit of 25. 825, I'm at 800.
Boy, it's a magic number tonight, 800 around here. I'm gonna put 800 going once. I'm at 800 going twice.
Looking for eight in the quarter, I got it now. Half, I'm gonna have, it's gonna be the new secret tonight.
850, I got 850 now, nine to nine to nine, 100, 900, anybody gonna go to 900?
900. 875. I'm going to bid 850 over here. Look over 875 one time. 875. 850. 875 going once. I'm going
twice at 850. Last chance. Sold it right here. 850 to bidder number 541. You guys are going to have
some fun. There's no doubt about that.
I think the IU football team is going to have a lake day, is what I think just happened over there.
Thank you, guys. All righty. The family holiday experience. I know that some of you are already dreaming
about trimming trees, baking cookies, and caroling. If that's you, get ready to bid.
Christmas is going to be here before we know it. This family holiday package is everything you'll need
to make 2025 one of the most fun and memorable holiday seasons ever. You'll receive a gift certificate
to Abel's Nursery. You get to pick out the perfect tree. You get hot chocolate from the hot chocolate
bar and all kinds of goods and cookies and custom cooking class for six to ten people. So not only are
you getting some goodies,
custom cooking class up to 10 people. How fun that's gonna be? And that's gonna be in the brand new
business in Bloomington at In the Kitchen. Also included in this bundle are four tickets to A Christmas
Story, the musical at the Waldron Auditorium, a show touted as charming triumph to imagination by the
Associated Press, and two tickets to see the renowned acapella group Straight No Chaser at the IU Auditorium
on December 11th.
So, let us know, let us know. Folks, you're going to see shows, you're going to have music, you're going
to have cooking classes, you're going to have food, you're going to get a Christmas tree, and you're
getting hot chocolate. Somebody give me $1,000. Anybody want to go $1,000 one time? A little bit of $1,000.
800, that's the magic. Now there's $800. I'm gonna bet 800, I'm gonna bet eight and I'll have eight
and I'll have eight and I'll have eight and I'll have eight and I'll have eight and I'll have eight
and I'll have eight and I'll have eight and I'll have eight and I'll have eight and I'll have eight
and I'll have eight and I'll have eight and I'll have eight and I'll have eight and I'll have eight
and I'll have eight and I'll have eight and I'll have eight and I'll have eight and I'll have eight
and I'll have eight and I'll have eight and I'll have eight and I'll have eight and I'll have eight
and I'll have eight and I'll have eight and I'll have eight and I'll have eight and I'll have eight
and I'll have eight and I'll have eight and I'll have eight and I'll have eight and I'll have eight
and I'll have eight and I'll have eight and I'll have eight and I'll have eight
$1,200. I'm going to bet 12 one time, a little bit 12 one time. Anybody go 12? $1,200. Got it. Now 13.
I'm going to bet $1,300. 13. Anybody go to 13? We'll throw in some extra hot chocolate. $1,300.
We got 13 now. $14. $1,400. 14. Anybody go to 14 one time? How about $1,350? Will you do that? $1,350.
That sounds reasonable.
There's 1350, now 14. Anybody going to 14 a little bit? 14 one time, looking for $1400. 1350, that's
where we're at, looking for 14. I'm going once at 1350. I'm going twice at 1350. Last chance, 1400.
I'm going to be at 14 now, 1450. Ah, dude, they're cheering for you now, 1400.
And they could cheer for you, too. Oh, don't look at him. Look at me. Look up here at me. $1,450. $1,450,
one time. Oh, you have him on the ropes. I am telling you that right now. $1,450. Yes! Now $1,500. A
little bit $1,500. One time. A little bit of $1,500. I'm at $1,450. $1,500. One time. There it is!
One time! Now $1,550. $1,550. Now, what were you at? $1,550. $1,600.
One time, 1,600, 1,550, 1,600. I'm going once here at 1,550. I'm going twice. Sold right here, $1,550.
The bidder number, 539. Fantastic. All right, folks. IU men's basketball experience. All right.
You're going to get the experience, the electricity of our upcoming season. New coach, some new players
is absolutely going to be awesome. It's going to be Hoosier Game Day in Assembly Hall. If this is on
your bucket list, this is the one you want to do here. You're going to get an opportunity to not only
go to the game, it's Saturday, December 20th against Chicago State. But here's what the package includes.
You get premium seats.
parking passes, and an official Hoosier basketball signed by our new coach, DeVries. He's making this
an elevated game day experience. The only question is, who's going to go to this game? Folks, this is
an awesome, awesome opportunity. Who wants to go see how you play some basketball this year? Somebody
give me $500. Anybody going to $500?
$500. Here's $500, now $600. Anybody that lives six, a little bit six one time, anybody that has $600,
I'm at $500, now $600. $500, now $600. $550, somebody give me $550. I got $550, now $600, a little bit
six one time, anybody that has $600, she's excited. There's $600, now half. $600, now half,
a little bit half, one time, $650. $650, one time. Yeah, $650.
700, I got six, I have 700, now a half. 700, now a half, a little bit a half, a little bit a half,
one time, 750. I'm at 700, looking for a half, a little bit a half, one time, 750. I'll take seven and
a quarter if you come back in. I'm at 700, there's seven and a quarter, now a half. Seven and a half,
a little bit a half, one time, 750.
She said, please. $750, $800. Everybody wait one time. Everybody going to go $800. $800 one time. Come
back in. The water's warm. $800. That's the magic number tonight. It could be yours. $800. Anybody going
to wait one time? Looking for $800. I'm at $750. I'll do $775. There it is. Now $800. You got her at
$800. She's on the ropes. She's hugging you.
I'm going to let you work him for a minute, because you're doing a great job right now. I'm going to
give you all day to do that right there. $800 one time. $800, yeah, but everybody wait one time. $800.
Here, this will work. Going once at $775. Going twice at $775. Looking for $800 one time. Don't let her die.
$800! I'm going to give him an eight and a quarter. I told you. Oh, she's hugging him. Holy cow. Eight
and a quarter. Eight and a quarter. I'm going once at $800. I'm going twice at $800. Anybody this side
of the room? Sold right here, $800! What's your bidder number there, sir? What's your bidder number? $541.
Those are Latanya's children, by the way. We love Latanya's kiddos here. Whoo! All right. And what timing
is this? An IU football experience. This next package will surely bring you to your feet and cheer.
I know we have a room full of IU football fans here tonight, so let's talk about what we got. This package
includes four prime tickets,
to the October 25th IU home football game against UCLA. That's going to be an awesome game. You also
get a private tour for up to 10 people of Memorial Stadium and Simon Scott Assembly Hall. You get pregame
access on the field to watch the players warm up, a special welcome on the video board graphics at the game,
and an autographed Coach Signetti football. What an experience. You're going to the game, you're touring
the stadium, you're on the field pregame, you're on the big screen, and you get Coach's SIG. This is
Coach SIG's autograph. This is unbelievable. Somebody give me $2,000 for this experience. $2,000. Anybody
got a $2,000? $2,000. $1,500. Somebody give me $1,500. We're 3-0.
Alright, how about a thousand? Somebody give me a thousand dollars. How about five hundred? Alright,
I'm getting in this deal. What's my better number right there, Vera? What's my better number?
$412 is in. $500. I'm coming back. There we go. Now $600. Now $700. Anybody go to $700? I'm going to
bid $700 one time. I'm going to bid $600. Now $700. Now $800. Yeah, but anybody wait one time? Anybody
go to $800? I'm at $700. Now $800. Where are we? Oh, in the back there. $800. Now $900. Nine to nine
to nine. One time bid to nine. Now $1000. I got $1000 in the back. Now $1100. I'm going to bid $1100
one time. Anybody go to $1100? I'm at $1000. I'm $1100. Looking for $1100. Four tickets. Tour in the stadium.
on the field, $1,100, all it costs right now, $1,100, I'm at $1,000, looking for $1,100 one time, anybody
go to $1,100? Going once at $1,100, going, there's, all right, $1,200 now, 13, I got 13 now, 14,
13 now, 14, a little bit of 14 one time, anybody go to $1,400? 14, $1,400.
I got 13, now 14. And a little bit 14 one time, a little bit 14, give me 1,400 one time, 1,350. I'll
do it for 1,350. There it is now, 1,400. I got 14, now half. 14, now half, a little bit half one time,
a little bit half one time on the 1,450. I'm going once at 1,400, come back in at 1,450. I'm going twice
at 1,400. Last chance, ladies and gentlemen, deal of the century.
Sold $1,400, 506, better 506. All right, here's your women's sports experience. We've come to our final
package of the evening. What better way to close out this auction supporting smart girls and strong
women with an amazing women's sports experience.
Four lucky individuals will have the chance to be a part of the action and watch IU women's basketball
team take on Western Carolina on Sunday, December 21st from courtside seats. You'll have parking passes,
exclusive behind the scenes access during a pregame tour, and get a take home and official Hoosier basketball
signed by Coach Morin. Volleyball fans,
You'll also not just go in the basketball game, but you don't want to miss this opportunity because
you're getting eight tickets to the IU women's volleyball game.
You'll receive the VIP treatment with an exclusive meet-and-greet tour with Coach Steve Aird and the
whole team. And this will make the experience one that is truly over the top. The winning bidder will
receive a signed ball from Coach Aird. So you're going to see volleyball. You're going to see women's
basketball. You're getting behind-the-scenes tours. You're getting autographs. And this is smart girls
and strong women packaged, ladies and gentlemen. Somebody give me $500. Anybody going to go $500? Looking
for five at a time?
got 500 now six little bit six one time six hundred dollars I'm gonna be five now six anybody gonna
go six one time six hundred now seven hundred now eight hundred dollars that quick right back at you
look over eight hundred dollars anybody gonna wait yeah but anybody wait one time I'm at seven hundred
over here look over eight hundred dollars all of you could just chip in together and go not like you
don't have access to the volleyball stuff like I get all that I get that
What have I got with you, sir? I'm at $700. Looking for $800. $800 one time. You have anybody wait one
time, anybody go to $800. I'm at $700 now. A little over eight one time. Anybody go to $800.
There's $800 now. Nine to nine to nine hundred one time. Little bit of nine. Anybody go to $900.
Got it. Now $1,000. I'm going to bet $1,000 one time. Worth every penny of it. Looking for $1,000. I'll
take $950.
Done! 950 now, $1,000. Looking for $1,000 one time. Learned about $1,000. I got it right there. $1,100.
Anybody want to go $1,100? Looking for $1,100 one time. $1,100. I'm at $1,000. I got $1,000 going once.
I got $1,000 going twice. Last chance. All in. Sold right here to bidder number 539 for $1,000. Congratulations.
Wow. Thank you so much. He's donating that back to the girls club. 100%. Wow. Very generous.
That'll be fun. I got to figure out how to go on that field trip. Right? Right?
All right, you want to talk a little bit about funding aid? Yeah, so the last thing we're going to do
tonight is give you a chance to just do what we've been talking about all night, right? Say, what is
it that I can do to help support a girl in this community? So we're going to give everybody a chance
to do that. We're going to start at the top levels, and we're going to move our way all the way down
so that everybody can ante in and say, yes. We did some math, and we've got three more months left of
the year. And I know this is a big ask, but if everybody in this room did $100 a month for the rest
of the year, we'd exceed our goal and then some.
So we would love to see what we can do tonight. I know some of you will do more than that and some of
you will do less than that and that's okay, but I'm excited. I really think that this room is going
to do something special tonight. So this is really why we're here. We're here to say yes and be part
of this community's club. And so this will go directly to kids and programs, things that you heard about
tonight and so much more. It's a fully tax deductible gift. And so we, we've got a goal of $60,000 in
this fund to need. And so we always have one question to ask Paul. We do have one question.
Anybody want to do the $60,000 and we can all go home tonight? We can all go home early if somebody
just raises their hand for $60,000 right now. We ask it every time. At some point, somebody's going
to do it. One of these years, somebody's going to raise their hand. You don't get it if you don't ask,
so it's hard to ask. But I will say this. With Vera's awesome talk tonight, Vera, thank you. Give her
a hand one more time, please.
She just could not have painted a better picture for us tonight. And so when we think about this Fund
the Need and we think about Vera's message, and everybody that has crossed this stage tonight and has
either spoken or received an award, I'm hoping it filled your heart. And if it filled your heart to
say, I need and want to participate tonight, this is your moment.
All right. And so we're going to start out where our goal tonight is to fund 80 kids, right?
That's our goal. Last year we did 76. So the goal tonight is 80. And maybe we'll just smash that with
something really special here tonight. And so we're going to start out and we're going to start out
with 12 kids.
at $9,000. And actually, hang on, actually we have an anonymous gift of $9,000 right off the top. So
we're starting out with already sponsoring 12 kids. Somebody in this room already sponsoring 12 kids
right out of the box. Wow. Anybody like to match the $9,000 tonight? Is it on your heart to match the
$9,000 generous gift that we have? Okay.
Oh my goodness sir, raise that card for me. Give a round of applause, thank you so much. 548, better
number 548. Anybody else to match the 9000? That's two of them ladies and gentlemen, that's absolutely
incredible, absolutely wonderful.
Alright, let's go to the next level. Ten kids at $7,500. Do we have anybody that wants to do the $7,500
and take care of ten kids? And remember, you can pay this monthly, you can pledge it and pay it over
a period of time. Anybody for ten kids at $7,500?
Okay, let's move to Five Kids for $3,750. Anybody have it on their heart to take care of Five Kids?
Right over here, bidder number 369. Thank you, sir, 369. That's awesome, thank you. Anybody else for
Five Kids?
Okay, let's do four kids at the $3,000 level. Anybody at $3,000? $3,000. All right, how about... Four
kids to come to the club. Hang on, we're going to just milk this a little bit. Oh, milk it. You go,
Leslie, you go. Four kids to come to the club. It costs us $750 to get a kid into this building, to
feed them a snack every single day.
We transport them from school to the club on the buses so the families don't have to worry about where
their kids are going. And we're open until seven o'clock at night, every single day. So the kids are
not home by themselves, kids are not having to fend for themselves, kids are not having to feed themselves.
For kids, you can pay it over the course of 12 months if you need to, make a pledge to commit to sponsor
for kids tonight, $3,000.
Okay, we got one. There we go. Bidder number 454. 454. Thank you so much. Thank you. Anybody else? It's
awesome. Okay, let's go to three kids for $22.50. Raise your bidder card if it's on your heart for $22.50.
Three kids.
another talk for that level? Sure, yeah I can share more with you about the club. Boys and Girls Club
every single day is providing chess club, we're providing tutoring, we're providing skateboarding, we're
providing Lego League robotics, we take kids on field trips to the Wonder Lab, to the library,
to the park, all kinds of things that together this community is supporting.
when you say yes to sponsoring kids. Anybody willing to do three kids tonight? What's that dollar amount
again? 2250. 2250. Again, you can pledge that amount tonight. 2250 for three kids. Right here. We got
one right here. We got one right here. Hold them up. Hold them up. Hold them up. Hold them up. Bidder
number 354. 354. Thank you.
Bidder number 503. Thank you, Kyle. 503. Thanks. And bidder number 419. Thanks. 419. Thank you so much.
419. Anybody else? Fantastic. Thank you all very much. Let's go to $1,500. Take care of two kids this
year. $1,500. Raise your paddle. Awesome, awesome. Here we go. Thank you so much. Round of applause
for these people, guys. Hold them up until I call your number. Hold them up.
Bidder number 497, 497, thank you. Bidder number 535, 535, thank you. Bidder number 461, 461,
thank you. Bidder number 536, 536, thank you. Bidder number 441, 441, thank you so much. Vera, we're
gonna give you a number.
Bidder number awesome. Vera Jones. For $1,500, Vera. Thank you, Vera. Bidder number 386. Thank you.
Bidder number 435. Thank you so much. Anybody else at the $1,500 level? All right.
Thank you. That was a very generous round there. One kid at $750. Who's in for one kid for $750?
Here we go. A round of applause for these people. That's wonderful. Thank you so much, everybody.
Bidder number 411. Thank you. Bidder number 496. Thank you. Bidder number 430. Thank you. Bidder number
397. Thank you.
Bidder number 395, 395, thank you. Thank you. Bidder number 368, 368, thank you. Thank you so much,
thank you. Bidder 432, 432, thank you very much.
Anybody else? Here we go. Bidder number 367. 367. Thank you. Here we go. Bidder 533. 533. Thank you
very much. Thank you. Right over here. Bidder 352. 352. Thank you. Anybody else at the one kid level?
750. Let's do a round of applause for all of you. That was awesome. Thank you so much.
Awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome. All right, we've got a few levels left because we know there's many
of you that want to donate and contribute tonight. How about $250 if you'd like to donate $250 to help
support the program. Here we go, hold them up. Round of applause for these people. Thank you so much.
Keep them high.
Bidder number 361, thank you. Bidder 353, thank you. Bidder number 501, thank you. Bidder 463,
thank you. Bidder 428, thank you.
Thank you. Bidder 383, 383, thank you. Bidder 425, 425, thank you. Bidder 400, 400, thank you. Bidder
number 570, 570, thank you. Bidder number 540, 540, thank you. Bidder number 436, 436, thank you.
Bidder 394, 394, thank you. Bidder 399, 399, thank you.
387, 387, thank you. 552, 552, thank you.
Bitter 451, Bitter 451, thank you. Bitter 444, triple four right there, thank you. Bitter 495, 495,
thank you. Bitter 542, 542, thank you. Bitter 544, 544, thank you. Bitter 369, 369, thank you.
Bitter 534, 534, thank you.
409, 409. Thank you. Anybody else? 250. Absolutely awesome. What a round. Give yourselves a big hand
right there. Wow. That's great.
All right, last two chances. Who would like to do $100 toward the great programs here? Raise them up
high. Here we go. Round of applause for these folks. Thank you so much. All day long, baby.
All day long. Awesome. Awesome. Thank you so much. Here we go. 4, 2, 3. 423. Thank you.
396, 396 thank you. Thank you so much. 390, 390 thank you. Thank you. 427, 427 thank you. Thank you.
449, 449 thank you. Thank you. 420, 420 thank you. Thank you. 362, 362 thank you. Thank you so much.
345, 345 thank you. Thank you Laura.
437, 437, thank you. 389, 389, thank you. 375, 375, thank you. 403, 403, thank you. 545, 545,
thank you. 494, 494, thank you. 546, 546, thank you. 498, thank you.
429, 429, thank you very much. Bidder 410, 410, thank you very much. Bidder 431, 431, thank you.
Bidder 384, 384, thank you. 378, 378, thank you. And bidder 541, 541. Anybody else at the $100 level?
Awesome. Thank you so much, everybody. What a round. Give yourselves a hand.
And our last round, last chance to throw some money right at all this awesome programming. If you'd
like to donate $50 tonight, raise your paddle up and make a $50 donation. Here we go. Round of applause
for these folks. Thank you so much, everybody. Bidder 361, 361. Awesome. Bidder 438, 438. Awesome, thank
you so much. Bidder 550, 550. Thank you. And bidder 393, 393.
And bidder 543, 543. Anybody else at the 50? Right over here, 541. Bidder 541. Anybody else? Folks,
that was unbelievable the entire round. Give yourselves a huge, huge hand. Thousands of dollars. Thank
you all. God bless you all for what you're doing tonight. Thank you.
I don't know which mic they want me to use, but thank you so much. That was really awesome. Give yourselves
one more round of applause. Good job, everybody. Good work, good work.
All right, I know they are totaling up our numbers, but I want to tell you how to check out tonight.
So we told you that you can pay this evening, but you also do not have to pay this evening. So on your
tables, at the center of your table, turned upside down are what we call our express checkout forms.
So if you fill out that express checkout form, put your bid number on there and tell us how it is that
you would like to pay. You can drop it in the box on the table back there that says express checkout.
Brandi, wave at us. She's waving at you in the corner back there. And then you can leave for the night.
You don't have to stand out in a checkout line. So you can just drop it right
in that basket. If you want to stand in the line and pay, we will also take your money this evening,
but you do not need to do that. You can drop those off in Express Checkout and we will let you be on
your way this evening. The last thing I want to mention is just a quick thank you again to our guests
tonight. Sherry Dunbar-Cruzan, round of applause. Thank you so much. And Vera Jones, one more time for
Vera Jones too tonight.
So the last thing we're going to do, just to give them some more time to total the totals, is our raffle.
So everybody pull out your raffle tickets. You have to be present to win. We've got some really awesome
raffle stuff tonight. So the first raffle item, if you win it, you need to wave at us, and one of our
staff over here will deliver that item to you.
is we have a collection of five autographed books from our fabulous keynote speaker, Vera Jones. And
the lucky winner will also receive a t-shirt, a jacket, and pens all wrapped up and ready to go in a
signature tote bag. So you'll be able to remember this evening and Vera for as long as you have those
items. And the books are good. We bought a bunch of books and we shared them with our staff and we read
them in a staff meeting. It's good stuff, guys. These books are great. So the winner will
get to have five of those autographed books. I don't think I wanna draw this out. Sherry, you wanna
come help me draw this out? This way, if you don't win, you can blame Sherry and not me. You know, I'm
just kidding. All right. Okay, oh, we got more. All right, Vera Jones, let's see. Winner is
Eight, six, five, two, three, five. Eight, six, five, two, three, five. Who is the winner? Stand up
and wave at us. Okay, going once, going twice. We're gonna draw again. Eight, six, five, three, five,
five. Hey, we got a winner in the back. Stand up and wave at us. Good job. All right.
All right, our next is a gift card and coffee from Verona Coffee House. So thank you for Verona and
Hillary Elliott for providing the coffee and the raffle item. So, Verona coffee. Everybody loves Verona
coffee. Gift card and a bag of coffee goes to 865358. 865358. Hey, Kalia! Awesome! He does deserve it.
He spent a lot of money tonight, so that's good.
All right, now we've got a really cool item. Aero Styler, courtesy of Jennifer Bales at the Verona Beauty
Bar. So at Aero Styler, maybe we can model the Aero Styler, but it's pretty cool. And you'll be walking
away with this super cool versatile styling tool. Or give it to somebody who has hair to style.
All right, 865-349. 865-349. I hope it's Mike Hayes.
No, it's not? Okay, we'll draw again. 865223. Hey, we got a winner! Awesome! Sorry, Mike, you'll have
to buy your own aerostyler at some point later. All right, also from Verona Beauty Bar, we have a haircare
set with professional shampoo, conditioner, and detangler from Katie Lademan. So thank you again, and
the winner is... 865240.
865-240. All right, awesome! Wave at us! Yay! All right, now we have a gift basket from Oliver, which
has three bottles of wine, a corkscrew and a stopper, coasters, crackers, sweet and spicy pineapple
habanero dip, which just sounds awesome. Yeah, there you go. Darcy Casey modeling the Oliver basket.
Let's see who's winning the Oliver basket tonight.
It is 865-107. Hey, there we go, 865-107. Okay, two more raffle items, two tickets to see Disney's Moana,
live to film concert at IU Auditorium. This event will feature the full length film and live performances,
so let's see who's gonna win that. Cool, that'll be fun. 865-284.
Moana tickets, no? No, let's try again, all right. Eight, six, five, two, nine, one. Eight, six, five,
two, nine, one. You gotta be quick, two, nine, one. No, no, keep it rolling. Eight, six, five, two,
five, eight. Two, five, eight, we got a winner, awesome, we got a winner.
All right, our last raffle ticket before we announce our total and celebrate. Two tickets to see the
Blue Man Group. Very cool. Really cool. Performance Act and Musical Group. If you don't know the Blue
Man Group, you should look it up. Blends Music, Comedy, Interactive Art, all without speaking. They're
coming to IU Auditorium February 4th and 5th, and this will get you tickets. Let's see who the lucky
winner is of our final raffle prize. Yeah, how do we get invited to this, Sheri? Okay, eight, six, five,
two, nine, six,
8, 6, 2, 9, 6, going once. Oh, we got a winner. Awesome. Congratulations. Thanks, Sheri. Oh, we can
just give it to you. Awesome. All right, so thanks, Sheri. Appreciate that. All right, we got a total.
Awesome. OK.
Our goal was $60,000 and we raised $60,200 tonight. Yes! Yay! Isn't it awesome what a bunch of us can
do together?
Yes, isn't it awesome? Thank you so much for being here tonight. Thank you for celebrating with us.
Thank you for giving. We appreciate you all, and have a really safe night. Thank you so much.