2012 Fund Racing for Bridge of Hope LCC

I am fascinated by energy—where it comes from and how it powers life. By day I’m overseeing an amazing team of engineers explore building energy systems, making them work most efficiently. Outside the office, I’m leveraging my physical energy and testing my own personal limits of endurance as I train for my third Ironman triathlon.

To bring a deeper meaning to my triathlon training, I’m racing for a cause—to raise $10,000 for Bridge of Hope Lancaster and Chester Counties. BOHLCC is unlike any charitable organization I’ve ever volunteered with. They are 100% privately funded with a greater than 80% success rate. Their mission is simple: from homelessness to wholeness.

Providing a professional staff and trained mentoring teams from churches, BOHLCC helps women attain long-term housing, financial independence, and holistic growth. Greater community support means more women and children move from homelessness to stability.

Although an Ironman can be considered a selfish undertaking, the reality is that I can’t reach my goal without the emotional and financial support of my friends and my company. McClure Company’s President, Chip Brown, has an employee expectation that ranks up there with safety first. He expects us to live “robust lives.”  Chronic overtime or lives brightened only by fluorescent lighting are not part of the fabric at McClure.

This supportive framework allows me to invest time and attention into my training, but it also allows me to “pay it forward” and invest in others, like the families in transition at BOHLCC. The women in the BOHLCC program push their limits much the same as I do for Ironman training. But the endurance required by these women and families makes an Ironman seem easy.

McClure’s commitment to living “robust lives” has spawned hundreds of sponsorships and community investments in support of our 300+ employees. The ripple effect is visible in the lives of young women and children, once homeless in Lancaster and Chester counties, now with homes and the tools to start a new race that is productive and sustainable. That’s energy well spent.

I’ll close with my top 10 reasons for believing in the Bridge of Hope Lancaster & Chester Counties:    

10.       Staff to volunteer ratio is 1:78

9.       Greater than an 80% success rate

8.       100% privately funded. Zero government money

7.       Not a stop-gap measure or short term solution

6.       Fulfills a deep need in our society

5.       Program to administrative cost ratio is 80:20

4.       Stated operating principles are honesty and integrity

3.       Board members are expected to work. This isn’t a resume building exercise.

2.   Mission is simple, but not easy: From Homelessness to Wholeness

1.  It simply works. I’ve seen it firsthand… twice.