Un-Clench Your Fist

How do you give back to your community? Bob sat down with Gunner Speece, Director of Resource Development and Marketing for the Shelby County Boys' and Girls' Clubs to talk about how important it is to give back, be active in your communities, and know what you live for!

Transcript

Welcome to this edition of the Hoel Roofing & Remodeling podcast. Today our special guest is a Gunner with the Shelby County Boys and Girls Club.

And, I know you told me your title, but I completely forget, so I'm just going to toss it over to you for a quick introduction. Yeah, no. No worries. like you said, my name is Gunner Speece. I’m with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Shelby County. the title. I'm the director of resource development and marketing.

it's just a fancy term for I'm the head of fundraising and, marketing for our clubs. I'm with the county, as I said, but we do have, four clubs that make up, our county of clubs, which is the Shelbyville club, the Morristown Club, the Waldron Club. And then as of August of this year, we're going to have the Southwestern club.

so that'll be exciting, you know, being in all county schools and Shelbyville, aside from, Triton. but, they kind of do their own thing up there. and we do have some hopes for the future not to get ahead of ourselves, but, looking into, Decatur County, you know, they have great things going on down there with the YMCA, but they don't have a club.

So, that's something that's, you know, in the forefront. But we do got to be sure to, you know, take care of what's in front of us right now, which is the addition of the southwestern club. So what does, so what is the difference between the YMCA and the Boys and Girls Club? Yeah, that's that's a great question.

you know, we get confused even with, girls Inc at times and stuff like that, but the YMCA, you know, they're a nonprofit as well, which is great. but they're more focused on, you know, healthy living and active lifestyles for the community. you know, they welcome those of all ages, you know, from kids, as we do all the way up to, you know, seniors, are actually the senior services in Shelbyville is located within our YMCA.

But, you know, they have some great things going on as far as athletics and programing. They've got the pool and the sauna, but the Boys and Girls Club, you know, it is what it is. You know, boys and girls, it's going back to, you know, the youth. we start at, you know, kids, it's pretty much k so five years old all the way up to, you know, when you graduate at 18 years old, of course you're going to have that drop off, you know, in high school and stuff, start to get your license, get the sports jobs, girlfriends, boyfriends, you name it.

But, predominantly, you know, we're serving kids 5 to 12 years old. You know, we're seeing kids up to 16 years old. so the main difference would be that they're more on the, the community active lifestyles. They're taking care of people of all ages. you know, you pay a membership and go there, whereas the Boys and Girls clubs, you know, we're serving the use of, you know, Shelby County.

but what we're doing to serve them, I think, is really what we're making, you know, the difference. So how did you how did you come about this position? you know what? Why why do you enjoy, you know, working with the Boys and Girls Club? So coming about the position, you know, I went to school and, my degrees in business admin and graduate of, you know, Purdue here in Indiana, and I'm proud of that.

and so this- cut this, get him the hell out of here, Adam. , no Purdue fans I see, huh?, IU? No! Okay. That's all right. What are you then? Kentucky. Oh my goodness I want to go now. But no we're when I forgot - threw me off when- you went to Purdue. Yes. I went to Purdue, did business admin.

And, so this would be my first, I guess, you know, real deal, real job. and I was just, you know, hit the job market looking around, you know? Indeed. Check it around. Asking buddies. Friends. See where I could get in at and things just weren't lining up with what I wanted to do, you know, had done sales prior.

I done, real estate sales, and then I did commercial sales. I think both are great, but, Covid took out my real estate, and, insurance just wasn't for me. it just, you know, just not my thing. So when I was looking around and, you know, considering my past, sales was the move, but what type of sales?

You know, I didn't like the product before, so let's let's let's focus on the product and something that I can get behind and make a difference. and that just happened to line up when I was looking for jobs. You know, I hopped on. Indeed. One day I was searching, you know, specific, specific roles and keywords. And there was the boys and Girls clubs of, you know, Shelby County.

And I saw ‘director of resource development’ kind of threw me off, but I saw the and marking at the end of it, I'm like, it sounds interesting. Worth the click. clicked on it, read through it. I'm like, wow. Sounds exactly what I wanted. and then being in Shelbyville, which is where I'm from, what better way to, you know, get your first job and come back and to be able to give back to a community that's given so much to me.

Absolutely. And, especially with youth, I think in today's world, we all know it's, you know, it's crazy. It's only getting crazier. but I think a lot of things can be changed. and but the change starts with. And I truly believe it. Obviously, I work in youth, but I think it starts with the youth of, you know, our community.

and we're serving over a thousand kids in the county right now. And, we always say if we can change one of them, we've made a difference, but we're changing far more than just one of them. and that's how I that's how I came about, you know, getting my role. so I see it as, you know, I'm still doing sales, but it's fundraising.

the products changed the mission. The passions changed. When I ask now, I don't feel like I'm bothering people. You know, you don't always get the yeses like you think you would with a nonprofit, but, it's it's just a different feeling now when I make this ask and when I go into work and to know that I'm making a difference.

And I've never been a person that really thinks about, you know, legacy or leaving your name behind, to be honest. but now that I'm in this role and been able to do this and seen the, the, the change that I've made and just, you know, the 11 months that I've now been in this role, it's huge. So I can only imagine, you know, going forward and building off what we are doing right now.

What? Not myself, but what the kids, you know, can do, what the clubs are going to be able to do. I was already talking about growing and then most importantly, what the community is going to be able to do because the community is everything, you know. And, that's part of the reason, you know, I, I've been trying to get out and about, and I'm very thankful for you, Bob.

You know, you're over here in Rush County, entertaining a boy from Shelby County. So it's more than I appreciate it. Well, and, you know, you said, like, you know, this world's a, what's it say, a fucked up place right now? Absolutely. Yeah. We're just going to call it what it is. Yeah. but one of my pet peeves is, like, there's all these people want to bitch and complain, but are they are they donating their time?

They donate their resources, their time, their money. You know, like, for us, it's it's so easy for me to get behind you. Like, I mean, we're a big sponsor for H and FFA and all that kind of stuff, you know, and that's kind of where we sponsor the Ramsay Education stuff inside schools. Like that's kind of our give.

That's our Y that's that's where as a team, me and my wife, we just and the company when I say team, you know, we just the youth is is where we're at. Adam is is big in his church. You know, we always seem to have at least 1 or 2 of our team members coaching, sports team.

And actually, our local, Adam, who's who's does the soccer around here for the kids? yeah. Yes. so I reached out to them and they were looking for some, some sponsors, and I was like, how many? As, like, we'll sponsor a few teams, right? And I didn't even know. But my production manager, Jonathan, him and his wife are I think they may be I think once coaching one age and the other one's coaching the other age.

How about that? and I, you know, so like like, that's one of our core values is generosity. and I want that I will that is a DNA in this business and our company that is a DNA is that that's part of our DNA is that, you know, is that Adam at youth group? Is that Chris? Like, Chris is so good.

you know Chris well, I've call him the girl the my wife or Ellie, like, hey, I'm going to Taco Bell because the guy pretty much own a damn Taco Bell. I agree. Right. but still, like, he calls like, hey, can I get you lunch? You know, I mean, like. And so it's it's fun to see.

I mean, heck, to brag on the boys. Nick, Chris and Cody last year sponsored a a a hole at your guys's, fundraising event that was at on their Hoel roofing. I didn't even know about it. I got your thank you letter. I didn't know they were doing it, which, I mean, that that makes me excited. Like, you know, that we have.

I mean, I know Cody has coached, Joey's, some of his sports teams and stuff like that. you know, like I said, that's just that's our DNA is our company, right? and like you said, that it's easy to get behind that product and sell it. And, like, you know, I am big on legacy, been part of a mastermind for a few years.

and it's just you know, it's like legacy. Like what? What is your legacy? Like what what is what is our legacy? A Hoel roofing. And that's why I tell the guys, like, we're selling a roof job, like we're gonna be able to get back to Shelbyville Boys and Girls Club. We're giving back to a lot of different things like that.

Like a piece of that goes back to that. And, you know, I always say that like, I don't have to have a big building named after me, like, you know, and like, I like to see the impact of, you know, little Joey, Cody's little boy, little Kylo, Chris's little boy. by the time this airs, may be next little boy will be here.

Maybe not. Taylor, hurry up now. But, you know, like what? Who are they going to influence? you know, from from my influence of porn into their dads. Because that's that's one thing I'm passionate about. Like winning men. We need to raise men up, you know, like we need men to be men. That's what's wrong with this country.

Like, you know, and if I can pour it into their dads and lead them well and they can, you know, take something that I taught him and then lead their kids. Well, then their their grandkids that may never know me, right? Like how to impact my legacy. Listen to that, man. Talk about legacy, generational wealth. All right there.

Yeah. I mean, it's just, you know, and it's so much bigger than, like, you know, the old clinch, clench, hand clench, whatever. you know, like, even a dog knows that, right? Yeah. Like that. I'm holding on to my money. I'm holding on my talents, my gifts. I'm not giving any up. But even a dog understands. That means come here.

Yeah. You know, that means. So now that's, That's awesome. and, you know, it's it's always fun to see, like, how somebody lands, you know, somewhere. Because, I mean, my roofing story is I was, like, first straight commission sales rep. I was looking for a straight commission. Sales reps. we had me and my wife's huge Dave Ramsey fans.

we try to live them principles every day. We got completely out of debt and I wanted to make it. I wanted to make the biggest impact as I could for my family, and that's how I got into selling roofing jobs and siding jobs and gutters. And then now we're here. You know where we're at. So what, why?

We're talking about them sponsoring, a golf tournament, last year or a a hole in the golf tournament. That sounds kind of weird, but. Okay, like, speak a little bit about that, because. Is that your guys's biggest fundraiser? So. Yeah, like you said, you know, last year I hit up, Chris, Cody and Nick, which are some of his, great employees and also buddies of mine.

And, without even letting him know, they generously, sponsored a hole, and, you know, that was a that was a great thing. So with that happening, you know, I thought, let's take the next step further. Kind of like Bob was saying, trying to raise men around here. So instead of just using my buddies and trying to go through them, let's go to the boss man and, you know, offer up and ask and see what can happen.

And here we are. So I'm glad that I did. But as far as the golf outing is concerned, that is our second largest fundraiser of the year. So although it's not first, it's just as important. we have this every single year, usually in about the August or September time frame. And years past, we've done two of them.

as mentioned earlier, we have four clubs, three currently with the fourth on the way. so we've done the golf outing for Shelbyville and for Moorestown coming back down to the two, just for things this year and trying to rebrand with marketing and how things have gone in the past. we've decided to bring it down to one and maximize that one event.

So this year, yes, we're going to be doing one is still benefits. Shelbyville is still benefits Morristown. But as I work for the county, all kids are important in Shelby County. So that's another reason we brought it back to one thing. It's going to benefit Shelby County. It's going to be an event Shelbyville, Morristown, Walden and Southwestern this year.

So it's going to be under one event. It's going to be September 14th. That's a Saturday. you know, we still are taking golfers. We still are taking junior sponsors. that's inside and outside of, Shelby County. that's going to be up in Arrowhead Golf Course in Greenfield. I know that sounds odd for a Shelby County, you know, golf outing, and I've had questions about that.

So I'll go ahead and talk about that real quick. But, you know, we try to work things out. Everybody knows, you know, with business, it's not a just as easy as calling somebody up schedule on something. You know, there's schedules involved. There's finances involved. They have other events, you know, and being a nonprofit, you know, it's more than ever.

We spend all this time, we've got to raise as much funds as possible and have to have someone willing to work with us to do that. and there's nothing wrong with blue Bear and Shelbyville. Great golf course. but it just made most sense for us to take it up, you know, about ten miles north, which to our Moorestown people, it's really just right down the road for them.

So I think they're not going to be too, unhappy with that. But, yeah, with that, that benefits, all of our kids. We don't have a set thing. It's going back to, being a nonprofit. You know, we have endless things that we could be raising money for. But one thing I do want to make an emphasis on, in general, is our food funding.

you know, we're serving our kids at all three and soon to be four clubs, food, whether that's before school, after school. And now we're currently in the summer. So during the day we're giving them lunch between those four clubs right now in Shelbyville, seeing assistance from the school and from the state when it comes to food funding, thus leaving us with the other three clubs to pay out of pocket.

you know, out of pocket means out of our funds that could be, you know, used for something else. so it's been a huge struggle for us. So when I'm out here doing these things like these golf outings, it's ever important that we get the message out. And the people that do have the means, that, you know, we make those ask in hopes that you can be generous and give back to your respective businesses.

And if you can't, that's okay. And we understand. But spreading the word, you know, likes and shares and views on social media, it all goes a long way and adds up. but yeah, that's our that's our golf outing. Be this year. Saturday, September 14th, Arrowhead Golf course. All proceeds going to all the youth and Shelby County boys and girls that go to our clubs.

We've got, over a thousand registered members and growing right now. they all need us. and the only way we're able to, you know, serve those kids not only at the level we need to, but to continue to grow and develop the programing. Our staff, you name it, the buildings that we're serving the kids. And it all comes through fundraising.

So while, you know, a golf outing might not be appealing to everyone or you hear about these golf outing fundraisers all the time, everybody does. you know, I've been told that they will be discussed this year whether we were going to have the golf outing. Everybody does it. We spend so much time on doing it. I love that, though, because that just made me want to do this year's that much more.

So I brought it back down to one, we're going to raise more money than we ever have, for the kids, for the clubs, and we're going to prove to why the golf outing should have never been in question. and but, you know, with growing to where we are going to look into other events outside of our golf outing, and, I'm sure we'll talk about it, you know, later on in the show.

But our biggest fundraiser to in being our winter fest, you know, those are our bread and butter, but, when we need something else, you know, the bread and butter is kind of getting plain, And we need to tap into other things, and, that's what we're trying to do. But, you know, that that that that's the golf outing.

but yes, we are still taking, you know, golfer sponsors. if you need any info on it, you can reach out to me, you know, gunner space (317) 476-6262. You can check out any of our pages on our Facebook or Instagram regarding Boys and Girls Clubs of Shelby County as well. What, is it limited to a certain number of golfers?

Yes. So, unfortunately it is. And that's only due to, you know, the courses. you can only have so many people for the sake of flow. And then at the end of day, the golf carts. So that's one, challenge, I guess the only negative I see, other than it not actually being in Shelby County is, in years past by having two, like last year, we had 23 and 21, so we had 44 total teams.

this year being there, we can only have 36. But due to that, and trying to maximize our efforts and then also looking at other golf outings and camping things, you know, in years past it was $75 for golf, which is another important thing. This year it's $100 per golfer or 400 per foursome. but the thing is, that includes, you know, your green fee, your cart fee, the get your lunch, a free raffle ticket, a free giveaway, and then your generous donation, which at the end of the day is the reason.

You know what? We should be here. but any type of participation is more than welcome. You know what? so do you guys got a silent auction? Anything like that to raise money also there? Yeah. So in years past, we've had the silent auction. and of course, investing to talk about maximizing fundraising. So you would think, why not keep it?

That's another, you know, element to raising, more funds. But another thing to be in, in a nonprofit, we're always asking for the money. and for a good reason, of course, but what we're trying to do is even in the smallest ways, other than just like sponsorships and marketing other businesses is how can we, you know, give back to people and stuff like that.

So that is one of the ways that we're going to try to give back this year, instead of doing just a silent auction where it's just you bidding everyone that does, you know, play, we'll get that free raffle ticket and you get to put one in to those same silent auction items without having to pay for anything. It was already included.

So yeah, you paid for it. They say nothing's free, but for the people that do still want to give back. And another way to maximize that fundraising, we're going to allow for people to buy additional tickets if they want to, kind of like, you know, when people do raffles, it's going to be more of a, oh, this looks better than this.

Let me put for my tickets over here. So we're going to have that, we're going to call it more of a raffle than a silent auction. and then we also do like traditional golf outings. We're going to have our long drive contest on a certain hole. We'll have the closest pin to a certain hole, and then we're added.

The one other thing, which I think is unique this year, which will be, longest putt as well. and those all good. we're still deciding on that, but either some type of award, sometimes it's a trophy, sometimes it's a gift card, sometimes it's a giveaway. But, I think it's all stuff that people definitely enjoy. And then, going back to the golfers, you know, we can have 36 teams this year and that's 36 foursomes and it's, scramble style play.

And the four winners the same thing. we've decided on the prize. They'll definitely get a trophy, but just looking to give back a little more. And we're trying to figure out what could be that second thing to throw in with that trophy. but yeah, that, that, that's that for the golf outing is awesome. so go ahead and kind of talk about the other fundraiser, why we're talking fundraisers and all that kind of stuff.

Right, right. So like, the golf outing was our second biggest fundraiser. and so our biggest fundraiser of the year, really, our bread and butter, you know, is our winter fest. so our winter fest always takes place, and the last weekend or Saturday of January. So this year it'll be, the last January, a Saturday in January of 2025.

and we kind of used that, you know, it is winter, so it's the winter fest, but it's kind of a celebration for that prior year. So we're celebrating everything we've done in 2024. And the cool thing about the Winter Fest is it's everyone. It's, you know, it's people, it's our staff, it's the community that we that we're living in and the kids that are coming from.

And the people were asking for money. It's those same generous businesses that are partnering with us. We're all coming together on one night over at Indiana Grand, at the horse track and casino. they're generous, and they're always helping us out by, you know, giving us a place to host it. this marks year 21. you don't often do things for 21 years and and not be successful.

so we're we're looking to continue to grow and develop that in different ways. as soon as I get down with this golf outing in September, you know, I'm already thinking about it, but the focus immediately, there's no time off. The transition is right back to that winter fest. because we know how important it is, especially when you're looking at, you know, the financial side of things and how much money this thing does bring in and what we have to hit just to even get that, let alone to keep growing as this budget keeps growing in the best way possible.

Of course. but that winter fest, like I said, is hosted, at the casino up top in the ballroom. And that's a unique event where, it's $200 a ticket, but it's it's up to four people. And so if you, you know, you you divvy up wisely, that's 50 bucks a person. Now, when looking at that, I think that's more than fair, because in that $50 that includes your generous donation once again, and that gets you in for unlimited drinks and food and how warm you know, most people can find one of the two that they enjoy, you know, and the food's pretty good.

it's served by them, you know, it's it's like to have appetizers. And then as far as the drinks, you know, we have everything from nonalcoholic to the good stuff, depending who you are. And like I said before, that's all free and included. So use that $50 wisely. and then kind of going back, you mentioned early silent auctions.

That is one thing we will keep and we'll always keep there. That is, thing that people love. I think some people might spend that $200 just to come see what's at the silent auction because, we keep it there live. It's not, digital. We've talked about going digital and stuff, but, it's all in person, and we get some really, really unique things.

last year, I think we have, like, 83 different lots of items, from things of local business gift baskets all the way up to a vesper scooter. You know, those are the nice, Italian, the fancy scooters, that Sam and Brothers in Shelbyville sells. so that was such a that was a unique thing. Like, this year, we're looking to possibly have a car or a motorcycle or something like that, you know?

So what? so is it the silent auction or is it a live auction? So it's, so, yeah, I kind of, I kind of jumbled up there, you know, you get me going and I'm and talk and I get excited, you know? So, I love it. It's a, it's a silent auction, is what it is, but it's taking place live, so to speak.

you know, you don't get the guy. You going real fast like I am now doing the bids, but, you know, it's something like a little side gig or something for me. but we do it on paper. So it's the silent auction. We basically have all the lots set up. People get to, you know, browse and peruse the event, starts at seven, and we usually end the sound auction about ten, 1030.

I'm big on schedule, so we'll get that taken care of this year. But, so it gives you a good three, 3.5 hours to get them. Go take a gander, take a look, get some drinks, and yes, you can get those bids. Okay. Members for the kids. Yeah. Get them liquored up a little bit. Right. Well, it's a little there's, so there's method to the, you know, all the all the madness that we're doing here, but but all in, you know, good fun and all going back to those kids.

But, yeah, we do that, and, people get to bid, and then, then we have everything in between from, Yeah, we have we've given away guns, fishing packages, sports tickets, you know, fair tickets, breweries, wineries, Saint Elmo's gift cards. people like bourbon. We had some fancy bourbon that was a that was a hot thing.

You know, I'm a I like to drink a little bit. Don't know too much about bourbon, but that was that was the thing. I was like, goodness gracious, Bourbon can bring in some money. And then one other thing, speaking of alcohol, is that we have our wine wagon and, male or female. I thought just the ladies enjoyed that wine, but the the men tear it up as well.

And, last year we had more bottles than ever, and that, that wagon. And you get the wagon, too. But we have, like, 97 bottles of wine in there. And, that thing went for like, 600 bucks, and, we had some good bottles in there. And if you do the math on that, I think whoever got that, you made a generous donation, but you made out right yourself there.

So I was almost jealous and that. But, yeah. So we got that, the silent auction takes place. we got the food, the drinks. It's a good spot for people to mingle, because at the end of the day, it is a celebration. we have, like, little side fun things. Or we had, like, a a photo booth.

we do a 50, 50 more fundraising, you know, and, you know, there's dance and there's music. we keep it fun. People do get a little rowdy, but that's okay. All back to good fun, you know? But that's our, That's our winter fest and a short but, you know, long nutshell. Awesome. I guess just kind of experience, like, kind of that one of them feel good stories that just kind of stopped you in your tracks of helping a kid out or something like that, you know?

well, one thing with that is, now, you know, going out and about even shopping, you know, local shows, the Walmart and Kroger is, you know, everybody goes out and about sometimes you hear, oh, you hear your name and you, who is it? But you can hear a, you know, a kid's voice when you hear it.

And there's never a time now where I don't hear a kid's voice and don't at least turn around to acknowledge them. And there's nothing better than seeing a kid and then as a parent, what the heck is that guy? And why is he calling them out by name? And then the parent looks and they make a, you know, one, two and they look back at and then it kind of full circle, the connection happens there.

So I'm not that wow. That's not like a crazy super story being able to do that. And it's not just one kid. There's multiple kids doing that. And there's more and more. that makes me feel good because just to start with that smile, that's huge. We all deserve to have a smile on her face and to be happy no matter what you're doing, no matter your age or gender, your views, everything.

So I think, to see that out of a young child, an innocent child, you know, that it's they're still pure and they don't they don't know what's what's waiting for them out there. And not that you can't be happy and you still should smile, but it's a lot harder as you get older. and to see, you know, that parent, to make that connection and to make them, you know, I feel like that makes them feel good, too, you know, that they're sending their kid somewhere and they're outside of that building.

They can identify someone and have a positive, you know, connotation, or to be able to have that conversation. And there's times to where it's just a high and a bye. And there's other times, too, where I step into the aisle and you never know where that conversation goes and you get to hear about their stories. You know, these are private stories, but it's, it's it's how it's changed their lives.

And while it's important that things are I have these stories and things that, you know, are changing for me and the better. What about these kids and these families? And that's what's most important to me. so that's my feel good story. It's it's when I see kids out in public and they're making that identification and it's always positive it's not.

You walk on by and there's all there's mean, Mister Garner, we don't like camp. He doesn't talk to us. It's they're smiling. And it's not because of Garner. It's because of the club. I'm just a part of that club, you know? So that's that that's that's truly what I enjoy. or there's certain situations, you know, where you get to know certain kids that are you, you know, really going through it.

You know, that's the cool thing about the club. We're serving all types of kids ages, genders, ethnicities, different social backgrounds, economic backgrounds. You know, we've got rich kids there, we've got poor kids there, and we've got the good old middle class in there as well. And there's some people that need it more than others. And there's, you know, especially one of my hair raising money for specific things or writing grants that are very specific.

And knowing that, you know, being able to put a backpack on their back or a jacket on their back, you know, one thing we just did, it's got a new floor in the gym that's for basketball. Now, it's much more than just being a basketball. It's a it's a clean. It's a new place. It's something proud for those kids to to go and play on, to make memories on.

It makes it look nicer for us to be able to host events and to bring people in, and to show the club off. You know, it doesn't look like it's still 1970 in there anymore. Like we're coming to the times. so yeah, that's my feel good story. And seeing them, seeing them happy, the smile on their face lighten it, lighten it up.

And being able to help out all kids. But especially those that I know that truly need it most. Well, and I mean, I coach youth football, you know, I say a few years ago, but I got a nine year old now. So it's been 20 years ago, right? Yeah. I'll never forget the first kid that call me that needed a new roof on his house.

He's like, hey, coach, like you're not old enough to have a damn house, right? You know, and but like, you see some of them kids and they still call you coach was 20 years ago, but I, I think back of like, my son just started youth football last night. and I think back of McKinney Jones was one of my first football coaches.

Right. Like that was 30 years ago. Holy day. I'll be going there. I'm careful. but, you know, like, just now that I'm an adult. And now I see how much time he put in coaching us. For the love of it, for the in back, for not his legacy. That's part of his legacy if you want to go back that far.

But, you know, that's, that's is so important that there's people that are willing to be in your position or willing to coach and, you know, yeah. I mean, like you said, like the kids like one year we didn't win a game. and the kids are always so happy and it's like, okay, like they the innocent.

Literally. I just ran an appointment with one of my sales guys, and the guy's grandkids were there, and they're, you know, trading. They were bug, they were hunting bugs is what they were doing. And I just started laughing. I was just like, and I gave I gave grandpa kudos. I'm like, good job for having on outside, having them playing a game or, you know, talk about like investing in kids like shut the TV off.

So the iPhones were just letting them be a kids area. The iPads like literally like, I don't know, I'm on this journey the last year, year and a half of like just, it's it's really like a transformation and it's, like, try to see the world through kids eyes, right? Like, you can have a successful business and a successful family, or, you know, work can be you can have a busy job and stress, but it doesn't have to actually be together, like stress is separate from the busy schedule or whatever, you know, and it's just, you know, literally like get down at the kids level and play with them and just listen to

their imaginations. I mean, hell, the other day before school was out, my daughter was packing rocks and a book bag, and I said, what are you do? And Reagan, she goes, oh, me and my friends, we're trading rocks today at recess. Trading what rocks? Dad? I'm like, okay, you two girls live about five, six, seven miles from each other, right?

The rocks are the same. Okay. Right. You know, however, like, she just thought that that was the coolest thing ever, you know? so it's just it's, I mean, it's your job is not easy, but it's it's you believe in it. There's a mission, like, you know, there's there's there's passion there, you know, to, like, invest in kids.

Like, I was going to try to slow you down there for a second because you just were like, I, you know, and I it's awesome. Like, I love it. because that'll reflect into them kids and like, you know, the cool part will be in 20 years when they, kids recognize you in the grocery store where they're 2 or 3 year old.

And, you know, we'll start, you know, telling stories like, hey, he believed in me. He loved me. He gave me a hug. He whatever, you know, whatever that is. Like, that's, that's like the holy cow. Like, that's the really that's full circle. Yeah. Really cool moment, you know, for, for for being, you know, for giving back and everything.

So. So what? So you work for the entire county. Yeah. So that's like the unique thing of it is so we have the four individual clubs. So, you know, it's the Boys and Girls Club, you know, singular of whatever it is. And then I say boys and girls clubs of Shelby County because I am representing all four clubs for the county.

So think of it as like, you know, the umbrella and these four under it. my offices at the Shelbyville Club, just because that's centralized compared to the county schools. But yeah, I work for the county, so to speak. So we have employees at each individual location, but there's only two employees technically that work for the county, and that's our CEO, Scott Spar and then myself.

and Scott, he's a all US Army vet. He's a great guy. Talk about bleeding blue in terms of Boys and Girls Club blue. the passion is there. the heart is there. There's never a question of is his mind in the right place when it comes to those clubs, those kids and his staff? he actually was the director of the Morristown Club where he lived, still, for like 12 or 13 years.

And, he was doing a service there, you know, way underpaid, essentially volunteering, for, for way too long. And he made a transformation there. we're proud to say in the 70 years that Shelbyville has been around, there's only been three CEOs, and Scott is the third one. And I think that says a lot in itself.

but the second one, old John Hartnett, a great guy and he's very loved in Shelbyville and did a lot of great things for the club prior when he stepped away. You know, that's a that's a huge role to fill. And, Scott has filled that role in the last four years, I think, tremendously. he, he almost had, you know, as much good as they did in that first, you know, 65, 66.

He did have to just adjust to the times. There was, some things that were overdue when it came to marketing and, you know, rebranding and just some strategies stuck in old ways. There's nothing wrong with the old ways. I think a lot of the old ways now, as technology advances are, are almost better. I like simple, but there are times, you know, especially in marketing and fundraising, where you do have to adjust because there's so much competition out there.

But, yeah, Scott's doing a great job leading us. and me and him were the two county employees. And then between the four other clubs, we have roughly four full time and about, you know, 30 to 35 part time, depending how much we get once southwestern fills up. so not just us, but we definitely have 40 to 45 individuals in Shelby County, that are dedicated to these kids, dedicated to not only the present but their future.

And that's another thing kind of taken from Boys and Girls Clubs of America is one of our many little sayings is great futures just that simple? It's great futures. And, I want to make sure the kids are happy and they're growing and they're developing and they have whatever the reason is, they come. They're some kids still do come.

They're just to play the sports like they did in the old days with the club. And that's another thing, you know, we can get to down the road here is I want to stress about what the club is nowadays. it's just not that athletic base thing where the kid gets dropped off, they run amuck and they play basketball for as long as they can, and then they go home.

Right. That's great. Big sports guy here. But that's that's not exactly what we're about. So, you know, there's a purpose for everything. And I think the 40 to 45 individuals we have is doing the best job that we've ever done in the 70 years. everyone that came before us has set this up for us. The foundation.

You got to have the foundation to build the house. but the house is far from complete. And, we know how that goes. And you're you're in the house contracting business. Even once you get it done, it doesn't stop there. Right? There's time for repairs there. Time for upgrades. There's time for heck. I'm just tired of the way this looks.

Time for a change. So, you address that as it goes. But right now, we are, we're growing, we're rebranding, and we're developing what we have and trying to take it to that next level for these kids. What? So, I mean, you know, you said that a lot of people think of it as the Boys and Girls Club.

Drop them off to play basketball. Like, what are some things that that maybe you guys do inside the club that the average person probably even may don't even know what that opportunity. Right. And that's, you know, that's that's a great question. That's the million dollar question. you know, if there's honest anything other than just being able to sit here today and talk with you and spend this time together and to talk about the events, this is probably the most important thing is, what we're doing and why we're doing it.

you know, even when I went there as a child, you know, now, 15 years ago, it was the same thing. I got dropped off, I ran around. You didn't see anybody but the person in the front office. I played basketball, I played tag, who knows? Probably got a little bit of trouble, too. But, now, when the kids get dropped off, especially after school, it's a lot more structured.

we're dividing the kids up, and I think that's a it's a good thing as well. So the kids kindergartners are doing their own thing. you know, one and two is doing their own thing. Three through five does their own thing, and then six and above. Just in January, we opened a teen and tween center just because we're trying to develop the youth that used to me goes all the way up to 18.

So teens and tweens are just as deserving and we need to take care of them too. And I don't want to the whole mental health thing, they're going to the whole life thing. If anything, they've gone through some of the toughest times, you know, because they were just at that age to realize all this stuff. but to get back to, you know, you to the original question, we do have all those athletics that's fun.

You know, we do the basketball, we do the football, we do the baseball, the soccer. another cool thing about sports and being a good old kid is we are the only club in the United States of America that still offers, air rifle and archery. So that's a unique thing about our clubs. But to getting to the point of what I'm trying to get at is the big stuff here.

We're now giving these kids food and meals. that's awesome to feel them, why they're there. But some of these kids rely on that meal may be during the summer after we've even had kids talking about stories, making you feel good, but also sad at the same time. We've seen them not stealing, but asking for extra bags of food to take home.

We, you know, we're not going to shut them down. We ask why? As for my brother, who might be three years old, he's not old enough to come to the club. Yeah, talk about, you know, pulling out your heart strings there. but so we do the meal stuff. we're doing mental health. Yeah. It's a huge thing in today's world, whether you believe it or not.

I believe in mental health. we've partnered with major Hospital over in Shelbyville. We have advocate advocates coming, three times a week to be on site to observe the kids. And then when things do take place, to be there to immediately treat it. And this is all included in the membership. This is an extra, you know, cost or anything.

So I think that is awesome to be able to offer not only affordable but essentially free when you're looking at it. so we have the mental health thing. We've added calming centers and rooms. So when these kids are getting, you know, whether they're having a breakdown because they're sad, anxiety, they got mad. They got a, you know, an argument when they're getting talked to at these advocates or they're alone.

They have a space to go to. And these spaces are quiet. They're calm, they're away from other kids. They don't get made fun of. There's not other influences. We we, we have decorated the room, so to speak, to make it sensory, to engage them, to keep their minds going so they decompress without they're just sitting there thinking about it.

They might be just doing a puzzle. Maybe it's some lights, maybe it's feeling on something. A certain type of texture. and then the third thing we're in the process of working on currently to help round out that is, working on securing funding for a, therapy dog. So I think that'll be cool. humans are great, but, you know how that the difference can be sometimes when there's adult, even a trained professional trying to talk to a kid?

I know most of us, especially pet people, can get behind a cute little dog walking around there. And, so we're trying to get that dog. And it's not just to have a cute dog. It is absolutely to have, you know, a part of therapy. I, I'm looking forward to walking down the hallways and, and pet them and lighten up my world, too.

But, no, he's really going to be there. He is going to be a service dog. You know, we're going to spend time, money, effort, training to make sure not only that dog, but our staff is, you know, well equipped to keep building this mental health thing. So that's another thing, you know, the food, the mental health, and then talking about, you know, raising men and women, you know, tough people like we used to have, workforce development, Stem or steam even is huge in today's world.

I think if you're not getting on that, you're, you're you're falling behind. I think schools should be doing it. I think any type of educational program that involves use should be doing it all the way up. and with the steam, you know, that's your that's your science or technology. That's your engineering, that's your arts, that your mathematics.

They added the E in there. So arts is now being included. so we're working on developing that program. And by doing that, that's going to be a focus on doing things for, like realistic VR goggles to where you can get on there and you can do simple things like change the oil on a car, you can watch, a surgery, like pull a tooth at the dentist.

like, it's really good for, like, contracting and trades, you know, tearing off a roof, putting on a roof, like, just little things. Had a hammer and a nail. Just stuff that, like, would have been great till now at 5 or 6 years old, let alone, like, even to be able to see that in high school. we're going to be putting together programs like financial education where we have bankers and finance people come in and put on programs and teach people still to this day in high schools, they are not teaching financial education, which is which is ridiculous.

It's ridiculous. It's wild to me. Not get all conspiracy, but I think there's a reason behind that. A lot of dumb. Yeah they do. Yeah, yeah I can I am going to go down the rabbit hole if I'm not careful. But yeah the, the government, the politicians, they want us dumb and I, I just don't want to be speaking of that.

If you have a connection with Shelby County, we sponsor the financial literacy in 5 or 6 schools. I've tried to get in Shelby County, and I can't. I can't even get I can't get people to respond back, like, I'll sponsor the class, right? Like the money is there. They just got to teach it. So if you do that because I mean, that's new.

That's the whole Dave Ramsey thing. Like, you talk about me, get me on a rampage. Like we need that. Like they, Andy Fossella says it, right. They want his fat, they want his broke. They want us stupid. Yeah, I know like, because then they can control us. Here, take this medicine. Here, eat this crappy food that we've put whatever we wanted because we just process it in there, you know?

So yeah, but on that, like or anytime I can help on that. Like that's, that's an automatic. Yeah. I'll get behind it. Like I'll, I'll come in and teach on it if I need to. I may get in a fight with a banker because the banker may be like, hey, you need a real high credit score and you need these six credit cards, and you need a car loan, you need a mortgage.

But, you know, but. Yeah. No. And high school Indiana. I'm pretty confident saying this has has passed a law in the last six months or a year that within by a certain year, within a few years, every person to graduate from an Indiana high school has to have a financial literacy class sometime. I mean, like what insurance I need to buy, what insurance they don't need to buy, you know, but like you said, like they need to know how to change a tire or, you know, simple life stuff to me, at the end of the day is all it is.

It's nothing crazy. It doesn't matter your age or gender or none of that. That's all stuff we should all know, no matter where you're at in life. Yep. and it's just it's it's sad. It's taken this long. I didn't hear that, but I'm. I hope that's true. And I hope that they they go through with that. That should.

Oh, that should be a part of graduating you they expect us to go to the real world and do all this stuff. It's like you can at least do that. And as far as what you said about them, getting back to you, you know, that's part of the game of, you know, getting people to respond to you.

But, no, I, I, I'm behind that, a big believer. And if you're able and willing to support. Oh that's all put towards the effort. I promise you that as I say, because you've got you've got better connections. I joked with Nick and Chris to see if they could get get me in boys that work for me. And they said they were so bad in high school that if they, you know, dropped their name, it probably hurt us.

A side of actually help us. So that's that's something to say though about them that they're honest boys. Yeah. You know, they they were a little bit of troublemakers. But it goes to show that, it don't matter about your past and you learn from that past and you can change because they're great individuals now and, now, now that that's good stuff.

So, you know what else? What else can we do to help support, you know, push it out there. I've actually got a couple. I've got one friend, that I'm on a she detects to when I get down and make sure he's supporting you guys. I don't want to call him out on here. He's actually been on my podcast before, but, just because, like, you know, and, like, for us, like, our base is Rushville.

I grew up, I graduated from Rushville, but my vision and goal has always been central Indiana. The rural markets is where we really excel at, and we do plenty of work up around the Indy and stuff like that. But it's just like, you know, literally our entire sales force team is from Shelbyville. I always joke like, I can't hire a sales guy that

isn't from Shelbyville, right. and, you know, and we pull people, from we've got a young man that lives in Greensburg that works for us. got a young lady lives up, technically, I think she's still in Hancock County. Hancock, Henry County line up there. So we pull in, you know, from a bigger area. Connersville. We got a young man that works for us from Connersville and a few.

We got a few people here still living here in Rushville. So, but yeah, so, I mean, I, I want to be I want to be so much more than just a Rushville contractor. Like, I love my hometown. Yeah. I don't I don't step away from that. But like, it's, you know, I want to serve east central Indiana because, I mean, I just, I just that's the impact I got.

and we're working on building the brand in this area that people and you hear of Hoel. I just want to think of Hoel roofing like, you know, just that's, that's, you know, that's kind of where we're at. And, and I build I want to do as much give back. Like, that's just who me and my wife are.

Like, I want, you know, we've done the Dave Ramsey stuff, baby. Step seven. My friends that are Dave Ramsey fans like it's live and give like no one else. Like it's being willing to say, yeah, we'll sponsor that and not even think twice about it. Like, you know what? Like, you know, I mean, the reason I ask for like a feel good story is just because, like, with the whole Dave Ramsey, stuff, we go visit the classroom as part of it.

Me and my wife did. Yeah. And it's so freaking awesome just to hear kids talk or, hey, I learned this. And now I'm not like, there was one young lady in Greenfield the other day that, coaching from her teacher and watching the curriculum. she chose a less expensive college that she could pay for instead of a really expensive college that she was going to to get a bunch of student loans for.

Talk about media impact right there. Yeah, like, I mean, like that right there. I'm like, Holy cow. Like that just changed her family tree. Like her kids are lives are different. Right. Because of that. And now think going forward to and yeah and like that's just one like I mean I've been I've had people walk up to me and thank me like I don't remember like I remember them in the class like, you know like and it's not about like, oh, I need that pat on the back.

Naturally. We all like that. Of course. Actually we all have bad days. the, the shit that business owners go through, like, I'm sure you know, it was nice to. Hey, thanks for your support here. Or it is nice for us. Like when I see somebody that we have supported, like recommending us like, oh my gosh, you can't ask for better people or nicer people, you know, like that.

That means a lot, you know, for us. But like I said, like generosity, like I said, is a core value. So we want to live that out. and, you know, I went me and my wife on a went on a Haiti mission trip, nine years ago, a little over nine years ago, she was pregnant with our oldest.

And the, I remember the, the guy that ran that said. And then they were in port au Prince. that's like the I think it's the capital. It's a big metropolitan. They are what we would consider a metro metropolitan area. and their group would go in and the first thing when they wanted to make an impact in a, you know, they're just in a neighborhood, you know, drill, clean water, like, that was the first thing they did.

And once they got that up and running, then people. But the crazy thing is, I had to educate people there on the value of clean water because they didn't understand they were just getting water that was contaminated over here out of some creek or river. That was freaking killing them. And they didn't realize there was clean, free water over here.

So that language barrier, like they got to train them on that. And then they built out of school and they built out a church. and that's how they get the impact in the community. So that's one thing that I've tried to be intentional about. I'm like, that's that's behind our like, let's go in and help the schools.

Let's go in and help the youth like, and then let's let that spread, you know, from there, I mean, we're fortunate now, like, I've hired a kid that was at, at an event in Decatur County that I was speaking at, you know, so now it's kind of cool. Now we're starting to get people applying for jobs. It's like, holy cow.

Like, that's a byproduct of it, you know? And that's gets me on another pet peeve. Everybody wants to you can't hire good people. You know what I'm saying? It's not a challenge, but be a business. Be an organization that attracts good people, that they can come in and believe in your mission. Exactly. You know, or you know, how about you go train and love on kids for five, ten years, and then maybe I'll get lucky enough to hire a few of them.

You know, like, just like I say, just like, mentor them, like, you know, that's Jonathan, as a production manager and, you know, I, I tell him very often like, hey, man, like, we're the old guys around here. these kids are looking up to us, you know, and perhaps Nick and Chris and Cody, they've all got young kids are getting ready to have young kids.

Jared, Austin. Like, literally my entire sales reps, they're almost ten years younger than me, you know? So, they've been married a year or two or a few years. And, you know, I've been married 13 years, so, like, I ain't got it figured out, but I know I can mentor and love them. The level of stress and discomfort of having, you know, absolutely little ones, you know, around there for sure.

but like I said, just at the end of the day, it's just it's about the impact that we can make in the community. And I mean, thank you for your heart because there's passion there. Like, holy cow. Like you could be getting a paycheck from somewhere else, or you could treat this job as a paycheck. But you know, you don't.

And I mean, that shows through just, you know, with your passion. So, we're going to make sure we continue to share the, golf outing right now, and we'll be more than happy to help share with the winter. Winter fast, right? Yep. It'll be the golf outing and the winter fest. And that's our two big events both coming up.

And you know, just kind of under off there. we're we're taking golfers. We'll take individuals, we'll take businesses. with both those events, you can participate by playing or sponsoring. as far as, you know, getting your marketing, getting your money's worth. We're always open to, you know, accommodating you. You're the generous person. So the least we can do is try to give back something to you, for your generosity.

and then, of course, you know, sponsoring is great because you get your name out there, but we still take whether you're a business or individual, any time of the day, any time of the night, it don't matter what it is. You can make a donation, to our clubs, to me, by mailing it to our club, by giving me a ring.

by getting our website, of any amount. And I always say this kind of sounds cheesy, but any dollar, any dollar can add up, it can help. I don't care if it's a dollar 100, a thousand anywhere in between. because, you know, we've had campaigns in the past. We just got done with one this summer. We raised $18,000 with 60 donors.

Shelby County's got 30,000 people. Right. Talk about just every one of those. Person kind of gave a buck, right? Right. How much more money we could have had? but that's the reality of the situation. and I don't blame them. We're thankful for the 60 people that we did, and we look forward to hopefully earning the support of the, you know, rest of the 29,000 and our community.

but yes, you guys can get involved in any way. Like I said, gunner space, director of, resource development, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Shelby County. phone numbers (317) 476-6262. our website is WW Shelby county BGC. So boy girl club.com. reach out about anything. I'm not just here to have conversations about money. I want to make connections.

I want to make partnerships. I want to be able to give benefits to other businesses and individuals that are helping us out. And you never know what the conversation, even if you can't help where you can lead me or I can lead you to helping each other. so thank you, Bob. Thank you Adam. Thank you, Hall, for having us over here.

Thank you for your support this year. Support, continuing to support, for those that are not in Shelby County. I understand, you know, your community will come first, but I like Bob saying, I think there's that there's youth, there's impact, no matter your cause or want to give everywhere. and that especially in central Indiana. Yeah.

I'm focused on the kids and the youth of Shelby County. But I care about all kids and use everywhere. I don't care if it's rush. Decatur, Hancock, Marion, another state. my goal and focus just happens to have to be on the Shelby County kids. So don't don't be afraid to reach out if you're not involved here. I think we all know, especially in the contracting business or anybody that has their own business.

Never hurts to get your name out there, as long as you're getting something that's worth your time and money in return. Well, I mean, I just want to challenge anybody because, like, we can all give I mean, somebody maybe it is only five bucks. Somebody maybe there might be somebody 50,000 bucks that could write that check, you know, and that, as you said, that $500 or that $5 donation or that $50,000 donation, like, it's it's it's all impactful.

and, you know, it kind of touched me. You talk about the kids, like taking, asking for food for their families because, you know, I mean, I've never seen in the last few years, a lot of schools were still serving lunch during the summers, you know, or having stuff set up like, holy cow. Like, I grew up. I want to say I grew up poor, but we sure weren't middle class.

Yeah. I mean, like, yeah, but fortunately, you know, there was always a roof over our head and food on our tables, you know? Right. so, like, I mean, that just that does blow my mind that, you know, you have you have kids that need food, you know, literally within a mile of where you're sitting at, right now.

Yeah. It's like really no matter where Hill you're at right now, you know, and that's, you know, that's that's crazy. You know, that. I mean, it's, it's it's the truth, unfortunately. Yeah. You just never know what, someone's going through, how their life is, especially depending on how they appear. You know, you can see someone that looks great and they're happy and they can be really be going through it.

And you see the guy that looks like he doesn't have, you know, another t shirt to put on to be looking dirty and, you know, he could be the happiest man in the world to have the most money in the world, you know? But none of that matters at the end of the day, other than I think as long as people are enjoying their time here on, you know, on earth and enjoying their life, there's always going to be bad.

You know, not everybody likes to work or, you know, stuff like that. No, you know, none of that. None of the we all want the fun stuff. And to be happy. And I think we all deserve that. And I have to say it again, you know, it all goes back to the kids. And, there's not just kids to say, say you don't want to support the kids for some reason, that these families are benefited from your donations, these communities, that these kids live in, they play in, they're going to reside in and they're going to work and are all benefited.

And like, we've been talking about stories and seeing people and legacy. That's what it's all about. It's all going to come back around whether it's now, now and and a month now and, and 20 years, there's, there's impact being made. But I truly believe in the most respectful way possible. There are there are more resources and there are more donors out there.

that have the means to give. And if you don't, you have the means to communicate and to speak on the word. And then that's all I ask, you know, spread the word. If you can't give, if you can give, great. But if you can spread the word. We all know someone that can give somewhere. And I'm not asking when I mean give the hundreds or the thousands, even if it is that couple bucks.

Because I promise with anything kids, non-profits, businesses, the world come together for better. Absolutely. Appreciate your time, sir. Absolutely. You as well. Thank you. thank you guys for, listening to this podcast. And, if you can help them out, guys, go, go help out Shelby County, boys and girls clubs and, we're going to have a couple guys over there trying to golf out here, so we'll see how that goes.

thank you, thank you.