Harrah's Entertainment Organizers betting on cowboy benefit

Corporate Giving story for The Commercial Appeal

February 20, 2009

Harrah's Entertainment will partner with the Alzheimer's Association at Minglewood Hall March 7 for the second annual ''Stetsons and Stars -- Cowboy Up for Alzheimer's'' fundraiser.

Lisa Bobal, regional development director for the Alzheimer's Association, described ''Stetsons and Stars'' as a unique event.

"Everyone wears cowboy attire," she said. "We have a mechanical bull and a Nashville band, KingBilly. The space is decorated country-western style with an actual saloon bar."

The Harrah's Entertainment code of commitment calls for sharing its financial success by donating 1 percent of the company's profits to civic and charitable causes. It is also Harrah's policy to encourage employees to embrace voluntarism ... (read more)

We'll build memories in the new house, too

"Because I Said So" column for The Commercial Appeal

February 19, 2009

I recently moved my family from the house we had lived in for almost 12 years.

It was our first home, which Kristy and I bought when she was pregnant with our oldest, Calvin. At two bedrooms, one bath and 1,240 square feet, it was just the right size for a starter home. Even after our second child, Joshua, came along, it fit us just fine; boys are meant to share a room.

And then the third, Somerset, arrived and things became a bit snug. Kristy and I moved from a bedroom into the den in the back of the house because a little girl required her own room. The new set-up was a little unorthodox, but we did what we could with what we had ... (read more)

Supply in Demand

"Corporate Giving" story for The Commercial Appeal

February 13, 2009

When people need help, they call on friends. When staff at the Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association saw hard times looming for their Emergency Services program, they called on Medtronic.

"MIFA Emergency Services is one of the oldest programs for MIFA," says Margaret Craddock, executive director of the nonprofit community service organization. "It provides financial assistance for those who suddenly lose income." In the current economic downturn, she said, "there is a tremendous increase in need we're seeing." ... (read more)

Patience is tough when waiting for special 'snip'

"Because I Said So" column for The Commercial Appeal

February 5, 2009

I don't mind waiting when I go for a haircut; I'm grateful, in fact, for the opportunity to peruse magazines in search of a new style. And when I go to get the oil changed, they can take their time getting to the Volvo; I'm patient enough with bad coffee and worse daytime television.

But when I'm going in to get my, we'll say "coupons" clipped (this is a family paper), I need that to happen at the appointed time, at the moment I show up and the paperwork is complete. I don't want to have to wait because, the fact is, it's taken me 38 years to work up the nerve to get to that moment. In fact, everything I've done up until that appointment, from puberty until I walked in the door of the Conrad Pearson Clinic, has gone to keeping a scalpel, or scissors, away from my coupons, which have been tucked up safely in my Sports ... (read more)