Patience and planning are virtues

My wife is part of a committee planning a large charity dinner/silent auction/big band/celebrities/press etc. to raise money for my son's disease, Tuberous Sclerosis. (For those interested in learning more about the disease, you can go to tsalliance.org)

The event is May 5, 2005 and the planning and organization for such an event is mind-boggling. From time to time, she has documents e-mailed to me because it is easier for me to print them out at the office. The documents include donor lists, celebrity contributions, planning/scripting of the speeches, menus, scheduling car services for celebrities, silent auction lists. The list goes on and on.

The entire event must come together seamlessly, or at least as close to that as possible.

My wife is not one of the big players in the planning; rather she is one of the diligent foot soldiers working hard and contributing her thoughts on weekly conference calls that sometimes last longer than two hours, not to mention her efforts throughout the months leading up to the event.

Both my wife and I have learned that when working on large projects, which have many components, including making requests to people and companies for things, patience is a virtue.

During a casual conversation, I mentioned the event to a neighbor of mine. Unbeknownst to me, he works for Roger Staubach, a two time Super Bowl Champion quarterback and a Heisman trophy winner. As Adam Sandler stated in one of his movie classics, "not too shabby". (NOTE: Celebrity names are permitted on this blog.)

I mentioned to him that he was my football idol growing up (true) and that it would be great to have an autographed ball to place at the silent auction. He said he would try and get us an autographed ball (on the internet they go for $250-450 each.)

Several weeks went by and it did not look hopeful. Then one evening, our doorbell rang, and sure enough, the neighbor is at my door to deliver an autographed football. He also advised that he would be trying to get us one or two more (for future events).

Similarly, another neighbor of ours works for a well known wine distributor. As a lark, I asked her if her company could contribute a bottle or two for the silent auction. The neighbor told me that that was unlikely since they did not distribute high-end wines. Rather, they distribute mid-priced wines. Without missing a beat, this neighbor offered to speak to her superior about providing a large contribution of wines for the event. After some time, I was advised that they would be contributing over 22 cases of wine, valued at over $2,500. More importantly, this donation saved us over $10,000 since the hotel was going to charge a premium for wine on the tables.

The good neighbors I referred to made pledges to me. They fufilled those pledges. To me, a completed pledge is a mitzvah. While pledges are not money in the bank, when tendered by honorable people, they are as good as gold. Obviously, the pledges made to me were conditioned on the event taking place.

Similarly, a pledge from a congregant for money for a specific project, provided the project goes forward, can be good as gold.

Good things take time. Planning and optimism do not always work together. But sometimes, just sometimes, as the "A Team" saying goes, "you've got to love when a plan comes together".


Patience and planning are virtues.

Jeremy Krantz