Is THIS a Learning Curve, or WHAT?

April 2008

"Diamonds are only lumps of coal that stuck to their jobs.”

• B.C. Forbes, Scottish journalist, Founder of Forbes Magazine
  (1880-1954)
  
  I am like a lump of coal on its way to becoming a diamond. My intention is to stick to my job to see this all the way to the finish line.

Do you have the feeling I am on a Tsunami wave? That is exactly what it felt like! Things were moving really fast and I had no way to stop or control it.

April turned out to be as wild as a March hair!

Much was being accomplished, thanks to my weekly calls with Brett and my daily calls with Dixie Brown.

Even my husband got into the act! He let me record him reading aloud ’The Velveteen Rabbit’ so we can put the audio on ‘Grandma’s’ website!

Here’s what I learned:

• How to make a ‘squeeze page’ on the web.
• How to write articles.
• I should start talking to people about Make 2 Tell 2.
• How to make interview questions for Sherry Watson and others.
• Sherry and her husband, Tracy, would be coming to stay for a
  few days. They would take me around to get acquainted with contacts.
• How to edit a recording.

I don't believe I have shared with you about “Make 2 Tell 2 .” This project is a key part of "That's It, I'm Going to Grandma's!" It all got started after the Valentine's Day Drive when we wanted to keep the card project going. The next holiday was July 4. We decided we could invite people to make cards for the soldiers overseas. We could send the cards to Iraq and Afghanistan. WE DID IT! Now we have sent over 5 packets so far. I have received a very special letter rom one of the soldiers. They were very appreciative of all the cards.

You are welcome to join in on the fun of making cards and telling 2 people. All you have to do is go to Make 2 Tell 2 and fill out your name and email address and you will get my emails.

My friend, Connie, lives in Tecumseh, Nebraska, where one of Nebraska’s state correctional facilities is located. She sponsors the Toastmaster Club inside the prison. She informed the club members, inmates, about "That's It, I'm Going to Grandma's!" She also told them about Make 2 Tell 2 and they fell in love with the idea. They wanted to do their part to give back to their country's service men. Some of these men are veterans who have served our country so they are very aware of what our soldiers are going through.

There is too much to say in just one post, so stay tuned for the next installment, where I will share with you about Sherry's visit.

What did the inmates do? You will have to wait until June's update for that.

While you are waiting for my next post, Click here to learn more about The Power of Grant Money.

That's It,

Renita Farrall

Are you developing your legacy?

Are you ready for The Power of Grant Money?

As I said earlier Sherry has built a wonderful business of training people on the workings of grants.

Another thing she has done is to build up the people who take her training.

She has taken "just a farm wife" and made her feel like a "rock star"!

She did that by putting 'the farm wife' on a panel. Now I knew I would be on a panel, but I never ask any questions. I just worried. "What do I wear?" "What do I say?" " Am I going to speak so people can understand what "That's It, I'm Going to Grandma's!" is about?" All kinds of things were going through my mind.

The big day came when I was told I was going to be on the panel. Thank goodness for Coach Dixie Brown! She had prepared a slide show for me that featured my business card and the story of the Valentine Cards. It was a short 4 picture slide.

Sherry's son Aaron, was the MC for the panel. They had 4 nice looking young men that was all dressed as if they were millionaires and then there was the "farmers wife" dressed in all demin!

Aaron interviewed the young men first and as I listened I was thinking "okay, how do I answer that question?" Everyone had such nice professional answers. Aaron finally got to me.

"Take a deep breath," I thought to myself. "Okay. Whew! I got the first question answered. " Then it was time for the slide show. I was taking them through it and noticed the audience was actually listening. The question period ended.

One of the young men on the panelists spoke up: "Did anyone hear the passion coming from Renita's heart? That is what the secert for our projects is all about. To get them accomplished is to have that same passion. We need passion that you can feel and translate and Renita just did that."

That just floored me because I was just telling the story. Passion was beyond me, I had no idea about passion. I didn't know what my passion was and here he was hearing it coming from me.

I get tears writing this because to me I was just sharing with them about what I wanted to happen, what had happened to me taking those Valentine Cards to the nursing home residents.

Another thing that Sherry does at her trainings is bring a student in that has gotten their nonprofit organization up and running big time. In March she did that in a very big way. One of her students is Orrin Hudson. You may have seen and heard about him. He has been on all the TV networks talking about his Chess program "Be Someone." He is phenomenal! He was a State Trooper before he started doing this and his dream was to help turn troubled kids lives around and teach them the game of life.

Here is the headline: "Youth advocate Orrin Hudson teaches life skills to troubled kids through the game of chess." His website is Besomeone.org. Go take a look. Seeing what he has done may inspire you.

Please feel free to leave your comments. When you click on Orrin's links please let him know how you learned about him. Be sure and check out The Leading Grant Expert Sherry Watson

Renita Farrall

Start living your legacy now!

Who is Sherry Watson?

"Courage is being scared to death, and saddling up anyway." John Wayne (1907-1979) American Actor.

March 2008 is marching on and we made our way to Albuquerque, New Mexico to attend a training where Sherry Watson, a leading grant expert would show us how grants work and who would benefit.

We noticed New Mexico has much nicer March weather then Nebraska.

As soon as we arrived, Sherry started educating us:

Did you know this?

• There are $350 Billion or more available in Grants?
• 95% of Grant Money is distributed through 501 (c) (3) Corporations ?
• Grant Money is probably far easier to get than you might think?
• Grant Money never has to be paid back?

Those facts are just a small portion of what we learned during the 4-day training. We also learn how to write grants. We learned the process to understand where to look for grants.

The Power of Grant Money is building their business so they will have many areas covered to help people receive grants and have an organization up and running.

• They have grant writers
• A real estate company to help with knowing how to accept real estate donations for your 501 (c)3 organization.
• They have coaches as I have been talking about, who help to educate grant seekers to meet your needs, giving you amazing ideas and direction.
• They provide the "heavy lifting" of getting all the paper work done, helping with the budget, IRS filing, State documents, etc.
• They have trainings every 3 - 4 months for you to attend.

Sherry Watson is considered the The Leading Grant Expert , because she has been on both sides of the grants. She has been a recipient as well as the person deciding where the grant money should go.

She worked in Washington D.C. for 15+ years. "Sherry has designed and launched 6 successful business...and has generated over $20 million in grant money."

Sherry had a severe accident that moved her into the realm of grants and through that she was elected to go to Washington D.C. to speak for the disability community. She was one of visionaries that brought about the handicap facilities that we have today. She laid down on the street in front of buses to help make a statement that the bus lines needed to improve their buses to make them more handicap accessible.

Here is what Sherry told me she said to Retired Senator Chambers of Nebraska, who happens to be a black man: "Even though you once had to sit at the back of the bus, you could at least get onto the bus, but we disabled people can't even board the bus." That woke him up and he started helping the disabled community.

She has had Jim Brady, who was shot while protecting President Reagan, help to educate her in the workings of Washington D.C. She has worked with Bill and Melinda Gates and knows what you need to do to talk to these people to get them on board with your projects. She is one person you want in your corner if you are going to have a successful organization to implement grants and fundraising.

"Although I had a tragic accident, I found my purpose in life. I learned how to design programs using Grant Money that changed people's lives in a powerful way. The success stories and testimonials can not be measured in dollars alone. I will teach you how to get Grant Money so that you can experience this same success, whether it's financially, or finding your purpose in life and turning your dream into a reality."

--Sherry Watson

Did I mention that Sherry is a remarkable woman? She is remarkable not for what she has been through but for what she has done in spite of her disabilities. It makes me feel ashamed to think, "I could never do this."

Sherry Watson has been a real inspiration for me.

Thank you Sherry, from the bottom of my heart!

I am not finished recounting this remarkable weekend, folks, so I'm inviting you to come back tomorrow to hear more about the training with Sherry Watson.

Renita Farrall

Are you living your legacy?

Will You Be My Valentine

February 2008. What an exciting month!

Valentines Day is always a fun time. This year I had more fun then ever before. I was privileged to deliver some Valentine greeting cards to some very special people. You would have thought I was the one on the receiving end. Let me tell you a little bit about how it all happened.

I discovered that our local Christian Radio Station was not going to sponsor their usual Valentine Card drive for the year. I called the radio station about it and they agreed that "That's It, I'm Going to Grandma's!" could conduct drive for our area. In only 2 short weeks we collected 244 beautiful homemade Valentine cards for 6 area nursing homes and 2 assisted living facilities!

The exhilaration was running high. It was such a rewarding feeling to do something like that. I couldn't stop smiling and talking on Feb. 14th the day of delivery. You would have thought I was the one receiving the cards.

It was very rewarding to know that we were touching the lives of others who may not be getting any mail at all. At least not "feel-good" mail.

The rest of the month was spent getting the website up and running for "That's It, I'm Going to Grandma's!" This was also an exciting time for me. I had never had a website that I could say was my own and to see how it turned out I was very pleased.

I then had to create my business cards, because my husband and I were going to travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico for The Power of Grant Money training. Coach Dixie was a tremendous resource in getting those cards printed.

This was a special time for me because organizers wanted me to sit on a panel in order to share with the audience what I have been doing. Sherry Watson was pleased with what had been accomplished because this project is so grassroots. None of the other people they have worked with had a grassroots organization and she was excited about it. I was terrified of speaking in public as a panelist. Remember, I was living in the "I am just a farm wife" zone. I didn't feel I had the know-how to do any of that.

I don't want to get ahead of myself and spoil the mystery. I'll sign off here so you have to come back tomorrow to see what happened in Albuquerque, NM... ...

Did I say it was an exciting month? Did I mention the excellence of The Power of Grant Money?

Renita Farrall

Are you living your legacy?

Am I Really Doing the Impossible?

"First do what is necessary. Then do what is possible. And all of a sudden you are doing the impossible." ~ St Francis of Assisi

In January of 2008 I felt as if I were doing the impossible! There we were, beginning a new year and I felt like I was full throttle ahead. After sharing with Coach Dixie it seemed like things started moving on the fast track.

Here's how events unfolded:

• By the middle of the month I was going to my first nonprofit meeting to see how they do things.
• Then it was working on the 1023.
• Getting my E.I.N. (Employers Identifation Number).
• Working on the budget, which I thought was another impossible task.
• On January 17th I found myself attending an Executive Luncheon.
• January 29th we had our first Board of Directors meeting with The Leading Grant Expert Sherry Watson and her team. We spent that time approving the Bylaws and getting all questions answered.
• On the 31st I typed up the board meetings and called Church Ministers in the area about our first project of "That's It, I'm Going to Grandma's!"

Renita Farrall

What are you doing to create your Legacy?