In this 2013 fundraising breakfast speech, Al Lindemann, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of The Relatives, shares his personal connection to the organization and illustrates its impact through a starfish parable, emphasizing that even helping one child matters. He highlights that The Relatives served over 3,000 youth the previous year and operates on an annual budget of roughly $400,000, much of which comes from community donors. Lindemann announces a $60,000 leadership gift from local supporters and urges attendees to join the Multi‑Year Giving Society, offering various pledge levels and payment options to sustain day‑to‑day operations. He thanks speakers, volunteers, sponsors (including Wells Fargo, Alston & Bird, Harris Teeter, Chick‑fil‑A, etc.), and the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral, and invites guests to tour the Crisis Center and consider volunteering. The address concludes with gratitude for the attendees’ time and a call to replace children’s fear with an open door through continued support.
Chapters
Good morning. My name is Al Lindeman. I have the pleasure and the honor of serving as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of The Relatives. It's a remarkable organization, as you're hearing this morning. Today you've heard 2 stories of how The Relatives has served Thank you. Youth in our community. And, and Austin, Brianna, thank you so much for sharing those stories with us. You really are an inspiration to us all and a testament to the important work that Brennan and his staff do every day. My involvement with the relatives began by attending this very event 6 years ago. I live in the neighborhood and had always seen the kids going in and out of the crisis center down the street. I never really knew what happened inside these doors. Curious, but I didn't really know. And at this breakfast, it struck me then, as it does every time, that this organization really is a force in our community. It's a sometimes quiet force, but it is a real force. And it helps kids. At a critical time and in a most impactful way. Now, as I've become more involved and I serve on the board, I get to see firsthand that impact. I shared this story with Sharon. My take on it is a little bit like the story of the kid and the starfish, which is probably a story you all know, but I'll tell it to you anyway. There's a huge storm and all these starfish wash up on the beach. There's a little boy down there, he's picking them up one by one, throwing them in the ocean. Old man walks by and looks at the kid and he says, what are you doing? The kid says, throwing starfish in the ocean. He says, son, there's thousands of starfish on this beach, you can't possibly save all these starfish. Kid bends down, picks up a starfish, throws it in the ocean. Then he looks at the old man and he says, saved that one. I always think of that when I hear Brendan's updates on the number of kids Relatives is helping. There are thousands of them, and they're out there in our community. We don't even know the numbers because they're often quietly suffering, sometimes in seemingly safe environments, and sometimes they're people just like Christina and Alex and Brianna. And that's why I'm here today, and that's why I financially support an organization that just last year helped over 3,000 kids in need. They didn't set out to save everyone, but sometimes it sure feels like they did. We as a community will need to work harder than ever to reach more struggling young people and spread the message about the amazing work that is being done at the Relatives. Now here's how you can make a difference. It's my privilege to ask for your financial investment in our youth and in the future of our community. The Relatives is a nonprofit agency and receives close to $400,000 of its annual operating budget from people just like you and just like me. Today we ask for what we need the most, which is support for the day-to-day operations of The Relatives. The long-term commitment of individuals, of us, will help give the children and young adults in our community the support they can count on and something they desperately need as they face so many uncertainties. To ensure that The Relatives continues to provide high-quality services to children in our community, I'm asking you today to open your hearts and to consider becoming a member of our multi-year Giving Society. To inspire your gift, I am honored and proud to announce a leadership gift from several members of our community who have stepped up to the challenges that these children and young adults face. This group of people has collectively donated $60,000 toward the fundraising goal of this breakfast. While we are proud to announce this leadership gift, We also realize that it's just a start to addressing this need in our community. For that reason, I'd like you to consider joining me in the Multi-Year Giving Society to help sustain our programs. I'd like to ask the table captains to please distribute the pledge forms. If you are joining me today as a member of a Multi-Year Giving Society, my personal thanks for your generous support. If you're already a member of one of our multi-year giving societies, we truly appreciate your commitment to the relatives. We also would appreciate your consideration of any additional gift or additional years to your already generous commitment. If you're willing to make that additional gift, we provide the next few lines for you. We know and respect that you may prefer to give at a different level, and so we provide additional options as well. If you prefer to give at a different level, please indicate how much you would like to give and for how many years. We truly appreciate whatever level of support you can provide. As you can see on the pledge form, we have several payment options including credit card, check, or securities. If you also have some great ideas for us or would like some information about volunteering, please check the box asking that we contact you. We'd be happy to do it. I'll just give you a second to finish filling out their cards, and when you're done, please pass your envelopes back to the table captains. Thank you. Whatever gift you have chosen to make today, whether you've become a member of our multi-year giving society, made a gift at a different level, or have ideas that you want to share with us later, we sincerely thank each and every one of you on behalf of the children and families that we serve. We thank you all for the most important gift you gave today, the gift of your valuable time. And we appreciate that you took time out of your busy lives to be here this morning to hear our stories and to learn more about the relatives. At this time of year, as we begin to gather with families and friends in Thanksgiving, we realize that most of us have been tremendously blessed. I believe that together we can help so many of the children in Charlotte who live in fear because they have no place or person to turn to. Please join me in replacing their fear by offering an open door to them at the Relatives. On behalf of the board, the volunteers, staff, and children and families of the Relatives, I want to personally thank each and every one of you for taking time here to be— time to be with us here this morning. Thank you. A special thanks to Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral for their continued support of the Relatives. I also want to thank our sponsors: Wells Fargo, Alston and Bird Cardinal Partners, Miller Coors, Designer Glass Mosaics, and Harris Teeter Simply Organizers. And of course, a special thanks to Chick-fil-A for starting our day off with biscuits, Scone Shop, and Starbucks for the coffee. A final thanks to the volunteers who were instrumental in bringing this event to fruition. I know they were here late into Thank you. Thank you to our speakers. They've been here since yesterday evening and very early this morning, and it's really a remarkable feat because it's not really their day job. They've got other things going on. Thank you to the speakers, to John Brennan, Ann Austin, and Brianna. You were great, and you've made this a very meaningful hour for all of us. And to our table captains, thank you for being ambassadors to the relatives, for inviting friends to learn more about our programs, Each of you should know that your being here has opened doors to so many. For those of you interested in learning more, I would encourage you to visit the Crisis Center at 1100 East Boulevard. It's just down the street. It's a powerful time. They'll even have lunch for you if you want it. And it's a great use of a small part of your day. Staff is available to give you tours, and answer questions about any of the programs and services you heard about today. Thank you all for coming. Drive safely. Thank you.
