"He's Just a Little Boy" a poem by the late Chaplain Bob Fox is a simple message that many of us tend to forget - and its a great reminder that we are all just kids "playing a game" - That in life we can not always be winners, but sometimes we fail, sometimes we are not the winner, and the story book finish does not always take place. What matters in life is how we handle these situations, and more importantly how we teach our children to handle them - I have always been a believer in positive reinforcement and trying to find the good in every situation - We may not believe it now, and it may seem easier to point the finger, but a pat on the back and a few "atta boy's" can make a huge difference in a child's life.
A few months ago I noticed this poem "floating" around Facebook - I believed in the message so much that I took the time to post it to our
Facebook account (McKinnon Insurance) - Within moments there were hundreds of likes, comments, and shares of this simple, but meaningful poem - I took it upon my self to reach out to Ryon Harms, Director of Social Media for
Farmers Insurance - I asked him to look at the activity that this post was getting - after a few attempts Ryon pulled it up - After seeing the viral affect this had he asked if he could post this on the
Farmers Insurance corporate Facebook page - "sure I said" - within seconds there were thousands of likes, comments, & shares and a trend that had started
on our page carried over - There was also a common comment on both of our pages, one that was overwhelmingly asking for these signs to be posted across American on all
Little League Baseball Fields -
After some discussion Ryon presented me with the idea of having 500 of these signs made and distributed to local communities all over the US - I thought this was an AWESOME idea - to think something that started on
Facebook, could really start to make a difference in the life's of kids -
So Ryon and I talked and he did his homework on the back end and he along with
Farmers Insurance were ready to move forward with this plan - So when Ryon and I talked next I said "we are trying to get these signs, into the local communities, through our local agents, why not keep this a local project and let a small town Farmers Client make these for us" - Ryon was on board, asked who I had in mind and if I could connect them - Sure -
Jim Dawson with Synergy Signs and Graphics LLC, in Strasburg Ohio - he's our man - Loyal Farmers client, as skilled as they come, and loves being part of the local community and giving back - Ryon again went to work with Jim and Farmers Home Office and the deal was struck - 500 signs to be made -
Our next move was to make people aware of the signs being made and to see who wanted them - Farmers posted an application on their corporate page for "fans" to request a sign - More or less instantly the signs were "sold out" and we actually had received nearly 1,500 requests - Next thing you know our 500 sign project turned into 1,500 -
The other good news about this project is that I am friends with
Denny Trimmer from Solid Rock Photos here in Dover Ohio - Denny was willing to help us photograph the process - From the signs being made, to the first one being hung in Strasburg, Ohio Denny helped us to capture it all - at one point he even helped us produce a video where we were talking about the project and where the signs could be found -
All in all this has been an awesome experience thus far - a simple Facebook post that went viral is giving us a voice to make a difference - Thanks to John Delcoma & Strasburg for allowing us to hang the first sign on Strasburg Franklin Park's field #3 - hopefully this changes the opinion of parents, and little league ball players all over the country -
As I said in my original posts - "A pat on the back can go a long way." Thank you to everyone for your support - here is a look at the original poem -
He Is Just a Little Boy
By Chaplain Bob Fox
He stands at the plate
with his heart pounding fast.
The bases are loaded,
the die has been cast.
Mom and Dad cannot help him,
he stands all alone.
A hit at this moment
would send his team home.
The ball meets the plate,
he swings and he misses.
There's a groan from the crowd,
with some boos and some hisses.
A thoughtless voice cries,
"Strike out the bum."
Tears fill his eyes,
the game's no longer fun.
So open up your heart
and give him a break,
for it's moments like this,
a man you can make.
Please keep this in mind
when you hear someone forget,
He is just a little boy,
and not a man yet. |
