The boss looked ready to climb the walls, and honestly, I couldn’t blame her. Our working dynamic was very yin and yang. The more crazy she got, the more I suppressed my emotions. I kept my face neutral, but inside, the nerves were creeping in. If this flopped, it was on us.”

I did a mental checklist. “Food, projector, trolley, PowerPoint, sign-in forms, pens, giveaways… all we need now is people.”

She grabbed my arms. “Why do I feel like we’re missing something?”

I patted her shoulder. “It’s just nerves. Relax.”

She exhaled. “Do you think 200 people will come?”

I hesitated. “I don’t know. This will make us or break us.”

One minute later, we had two people. Then five. Then ten. Then—suddenly—I turned around, and the line snaked out the door. People were waving their golden tickets like they were backstage passes to the hottest show in town.

We knew them, so we greeted them with hugs. A few more trickled in. Hugs all around. Then a few more. Before long, a line formed outside.

I quickly grabbed an extra table to speed up check-ins. With the help of our Spanish-speaking pastors, we got the line moving faster. People just kept coming.

And by golly, we were going to make it. The event was like a family reunion of people you actually like and possibly even love. We loved our residents and community partners. 

The presentation went off without a hitch—except for one moment.

At one point, one of our community service participants walked right behind the projector screen, you could see her legs under the screen and our video recording cameras caught it —complete with an ankle monitor!

Of course. Of course, this would happen. It was a perfect little reminder of the reality we lived in—no matter how well we planned, life in this community had a way of keeping things authentic.

Perfectly on brand for our neighborhood. Eye roll.

But none of that mattered.

In the end, we didn’t just meet the goal. We crushed it. And as I watched 300 people—residents, leaders, and everyone in between—gather in one place, I realized something. This wasn’t just our win. This was our community proving, once again, that we show up when it matters.

All gathered in one place.

On a warm, beautiful evening.

And that’s how we pulled it off. We were the ONLY site to have more than 100 people show up. We were not only a resounding success. We were deemed the best site in all of the state. And that was an incredible feeling!