An Ohio Export...Inspiration

Trust me when I tell you that strangers can change your life. When the University of Findlay (OH) Women's Lacrosse team came to visit Jimmy Twohander's first community program, a group of a dozen or so excited 3-6 year old toddlers disguised as lacrosse players, you could feel the impact all the way down to the most brittle parts of your soul. Wide eyed little girls giggling and bouncing around a borrowed gymnasium with the kind of girls we could only hope they'd grow to become...enthusiastic, caring, kind, hard working...and all because we asked them to help us. That's it. That's all.

When Coach Duffy responded to my random email asking for help getting a girls program off of the the ground I never imagined that we'd be standing side by side watching both our groups of brilliant young girls finding faith in each other.  It was an awe inspiring afternoon that reminded me of the power of caring, and of giving, and of reaching out. I suspect that some of these girls will be in touch and connected for years to come, and I know that I'll always share a common respect and appreciation for Coach Duffy.  They didn't have to invest in these little girls, or in this bold idea that on the surface had so little to do with them, such little impact in their universe, but upon a closer inspection had everything to do with them. Driven by Coach Duffy herself, and the individual girls of the Findlay lacrosse program, the idea that we can impact people so far removed from our everyday by simply choosing to do so...by caring.

Special thanks to Coach Duffy and all of the Findlay Oilers Women's Lacrosse team...you left a lot of little girls hoping that someday they can grow up just like you, and the idea takes my breath away. I'd be a happy and proud father if mine did.