The Great Futures Breakfast held by the Elkhart Boys & Girls Club to raise money and honor local heroes
ELKHART, Ind. -- The Boys and Girls Club held the Great Futures Breakfast Thursday in Elkhart at the Northern Indiana Event Center.
The Great Futures Breakfast is a fundraiser, but also an event to honor helpers and heroes within the community. People like Kim and Scott Welch who were presented with the Blue Heart award.
Presenter Jodi Spataro said this "It is an absolute honor to present the Blue Heart award to the two people who have quietly, profoundly and faithfully made a difference in this community and in our lives, personally. Please join us in welcoming and congratulating Scott and Kim Welch.
In their acceptance speech, Kim and Scott Welch added "Thank you to all of you that are here that make a difference in this program, because kids are our world. Just thank you. I'll just say We're deeply honored and humbled by this."
Mom Carla Darr had this to say about the Boys & Girls club of Elkhart "I became a first-time mom at 61 and it's crazy. It's just crazy how my life has changed. (But now) we're doing great. We have a house now, a long-term rental. We're in Osceola. I retired in May, thinking I'd have all this free time, but I drive the boys to school, and Boys and Girls Club is their favorite part of the day, and without them, without the generosity of the city, we wouldn't be where we are today. So, we just want to take a moment and say thank you for everyone who stepped up for us and Boys and Girls Club led the way."
Goshen Police Officer Lieutenant Warren C. O’Neal delivered an inspiring address:
"When we think about heroes, most of us picture something big, courage, sacrifice, overcoming impossible odds. We imagine someone standing in the spotlight, the one who faces danger and saves the day for the watching world, returning triumphant and forever memorialized in bronze statues across a very grateful world when I was younger, that's what I thought a hero looked like, too the warriors in movies, the one carrying the burden, the one everyone remembers the names, and their names live on as legends.
Over the past 15 years, I've worn different uniforms, marine, soldier, officer, and through each of them, I've learned the same lessons. The people who change your life are rarely the ones looking for any recognition, and yet, the older I've gotten, the more I've realized my definition of heroism has slowly been changing as well, because the greatest heroes I have ever known never wore a cape, he never stood In the Spotlight, and he never asked for recognition. He worked for the city of South Bend Solid Waste Department. That hero was my father.
Community is really just this coming together to help carry someone else's burden for a while, and we when we all invest in our youth, we aren't just helping kids today. We are shaping the future leaders, future parents, future mentors and the future heroes, people who will one day carry someone else through the dark moments because someone else once did it for them. And here is the best part, the story isn't finished yet. Every kid who has walked through these doors is still writing that chapter. And if we're honest, so are we, every mentor, every volunteer, every person who supports this great organization you are helping decide how far that story goes. The future isn't something we wait for, it's something we build together."