It’s The People That Make It Worth It!
People often tell me how amazing Jeeps on the Run is on event day, and it is. But what most don’t see is how much work happens long before the first Jeep ever shows up.
Planning starts in the summer. My family and our core team pour countless hours into this – nights, weekends, conversations that don’t end, and to-do lists that never seem to get shorter. It’s exhausting at times. But every year, without fail, there’s a moment during the event that makes everything disappear.
This year, JOTR even meant giving up a personal holiday tradition. I missed my annual trip to see Sister Hazel at the House of Blues — a two-day show that ends with brunch on Sunday morning. I’ve only missed it once before (for JOTR as well). But standing there watching Jeep after Jeep roll through the toy drop, seeing the trucks fill up with toys, I knew exactly where I was supposed to be. The amount of generosity on display literally gives me goosebumps.
What really gets me, though, is the passion people have for this group, not just on event day, but all year long. Seeing Jeeps out in the wild, weeks or months later, still wearing the JOTR logo means more to me than I can explain. It tells me this has become part of people’s lives, not just their calendars.
The generosity continues to blow me away every single year! Raffle items, donations, Jeep tickets, toys stacked higher than we ever expect. And it’s not just the big gestures. It’s the small sacrifices too. Maybe you skipped Starbucks. Maybe you didn’t buy that extra gift. Maybe you stretched a little more than was comfortable. When you see truck after truck filled with toys, you realize how powerful those choices are when we all make them together.
In a moment of perfect timing, Ken Block – the lead singer of Sister Hazel and my favorite band – joked that they’d try to “make sure the band sucked” so I wouldn’t feel bad missing the show. Then he followed it up with a text that said, “Good luck doing the good work.” That message stuck with me, because that’s exactly what this is.
Jeeps on the Run only exists because people choose it. They choose to show up. They choose to give. They choose to make it part of their holiday tradition. Without that, it’s nothing.
From the bottom of my heart …. thank you for believing in this, and for making it what it is.
