A few of the members of our Meritage Events team have been taking time to use their unique skills and connections to give back to their communities over the past few months. Here are their stories….
Food For Thought
At the onset of the COVID pandemic, there was an emergent need within communities across the nation to feed children who relied on the free and reduced breakfast/lunch programs of public schools. A number of churches, non-profit and volunteer organizations stepped up to the plate, pun intended, to fill the gap left by the shutdown of schools in response. For someone who has a soft-spot for children (I have two myself) and is already heavily involved in our church, I felt compelled to help those in need by volunteering some of my time to assist with a supplemental lunch program.
Twice a week, since the first week of lockdown, my children and I have had the privilage of meeting with friends and fellow parishoners to prepare meals for students in the Dallas area to be distributed to families in need. We have now provided over 65,000 meals since the end of April and continue to provide vital resources for families in the area. The program has been a huge success and we plan to continue providing this service until students are safely back in the classroom.
-Mendie
Community Kindness
I think we can all agree that one of the positive things to come out of this pandemic is the emphasis on the little things that make us happy. A trip through the Starbucks drive-thru, a walk around the neighborhood, driveway hangs with neighbors...anything to get us out of the four walls of our homes and something other than video calls!
I recently noticed a Facebook post by one of our local food truck partners. They were searching for nearby neighborhoods/home owners associations where they might provide on-site service during this slower-than-average summer and a light bulb went off in my head. Why not spearhead summer food truck nights in my neighborhood? It seemed like a win-win.
Support local businesses, check!
Provide an activity to the neighborhood to break up the monotony, check!
Plan a “live event,” check!
And, in my own self-interest, bring my favorite food truck vendors from all over Austin to my neighborhood. No brainer. I reached out to our HOA board and management company and everyone seemed enthusiastic about the idea. Since the program wasn’t something we’d budgeted for, the HOA wouldn’t be able to commit to any food and beverage minimum. The lack of investment from the association meant I was welcome to negotiate the details and that I would be the point person. Food Truck Fridays in Sendera were born!
I was able to work out the food and beverage kinks for this summer and, with most of the vendors now operating through online pre-orders, they’re able to avoid risk altogether. I reached out to trucks that Meritage Events has worked with before, as well as new ones to spread as much love and yummy food as possible. We booked everything from tacos to BBQ, snow cones, ice cream and more!
Beginnning at the end of June and continuing through September 4th, every other Friday, I booked several trucks to drive out, set-up in front of our pool house and serve our neighborhood. So far it has been a hit - families bring blankets, chairs, giant jenga sets, etc. and hang out for the evening while social distancing. Kids run around the patchwork of front yards and neighbors wave to each other from afar. It may sound silly, but it really does feel like time was rewound, to a simpler era, and people are just happy to be out of their house doing something different, enjoying a meal they didn't have to cook. And the best part? No dishes!
All of our food truck partners I have worked with have gone above and beyond. It's so encouraging seeing everyone still so positive, and inherently happy to have business and be able to put their folks to work, even if it's for a few hours. I’ve kept records of all of the sales data and hope to make this an annual event and recruit more trucks next summer. I’m also hopeful our HOA board will see this program worthy of allocating some funds for in 2021 when business rebounds. In the meantime, I’ll just enjoy my Fridays off from cooking.
-Nicole
A group Effort
Working in the events industry, we form real bonds with our partners and vendors. Maybe it’s the long hours on-site, maybe it’s just the similarities in personality, but cohorts quickly become friends and friends become family. When one of our “family” members, Fallon Allison of McGuire-Moorman Catering asked if Nicole and I would be open to joining a fundraising team to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, we jumped at the chance.
Since our team was comprised primarily of events industry professionals, we had lofty goals and grand notions of throwing one or two large events and a few exclusive parties where we were all but guaranteed to raise substantial donations for the cause. We are, of course, professional curators of FUN!
When March hit and the reality of the global “situation” sank in, everything changed. The majority of our key contacts we planned to approach for donations were in the events and hospitality industries left decimated in the COVID wake. Because of the impact of layoffs and furloughs, Nicole and I had to rethink how we could put our skills to work assisting in other ways. We learned another team member secured a highly sought-after motivational speaker pre-pandemic and, rather than let good fortune go to waste, a hybrid event was born.
It is here I must give serious credit to our team leader as she took the changing parameters around us in stride and had also begun to ideate on other ways to continue the mission. We brainstormed as a team, deciding to test our knowledge of remote engagements as well as our familiarity with new safety standards to create an intimate, hybrid event to provide another avenue for fundraising.
The Meritage Events team members donated our time and resources to plan, manage and execute the event; following all the current city and state laws as well as CDC recommended guidelines for meetings set at the time. To reach a broader, remote audience, we hosted a livestream of the keynote speaker resulting in increased awareness of the cause and fundraising efforts.
Having the opportunity to use our expertise pro-bono was time well spent! Not only was the event a success but we ended up raising the most money of any team in Austin for the 2020 competition. Our fearless team leader, Fallon, was honored by winning the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s “Woman of the Year” Award for the Austin area!
As it turns out, we’re at our best when we’re challenged and we’re even better when we can count on our event family. Special thanks goes out to FILO Productions, McLendon Photography, Antone’s Nightclub, McGuire Moorman Hospitality and the SEAL Legacy Foundation for their inspired efforts and contributions to a great cause.
-Tacy
