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Articles ...
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A Simple Gesture Leads to Splashes of Hope
By Jennifer Ross
I was standing at the bar, connecting with a friend at a quarterly Fortune 52 Event, honoring
inspirational Long Island women who are doing amazing things. A former Fortune 52 nominee was
standing next to me, struggling to put on her corsage. I offered some help and was connected to
Heather Buggee, founder of Splashes of Hope.
How do you Splash Hope?
Heather and the artists at Splashes of Hope create painted murals that are donated to children’s
hospitals and veteran homes around the country, and internationally. Yes, the murals are absolutely
beautiful, colorful, and amazingly fun. But, most importantly, they provide true inspiration to the
kids, parents and hospital staff. They are ‘the’ positive distraction during difficult exams, tests,
and procedures. The artistic scenes provide hope and inspire imagination to patients and their families.
After quickly hearing Heather’s story about Splashes of Hope, I was inspired to help get the word
out about the organization and connect some other great people to Heather’s cause.
Serendipity…I love when these things happen!
After meeting Heather, I realized that the Splashes of Hope name sounded vaguely familiar to me.
Then I remembered…another close entrepreneurial friend and business coach had mentioned the organization
to me in passing. We were talking about my business and she was making some comparisons and mentioned
this amazing non-profit that was painting murals for children’s hospitals. It turns out that my
entrepreneurial friend is a new member of the Splashes of Hope non-profit Board.
Unveiling Splashes of Hope
We were able to videotape the unveiling of several murals at the Stonybrook University Veterans Home.
And then we were able to go across the street and videotape the murals that were introduced to the
Stonybrook Children’s Cancer Center a few months prior. Colorful characters and entertaining, fun
scenes filled the walls in each room. Ceiling tiles were also painted to help children relax and
'get lost' during exams and procedures. Hearing from the nursing staff and some parents about how
these murals have made a tremendous impact on the kids truly made this visit very emotional for me.
Connecting Hope
I connected with Heather through a simple gesture of help…another example of the power of connecting.
But this story has a more critical message. Whether we are an artist, writer, business expert,
contractor, or realtor, our diverse talents can be used in unique and inspiring ways. We sometimes
don’t realize that. Heather and the talented team and volunteers at Splashes of Hope are using their
artistic talents to inspire and provide hope to children and their families. We should all be inspired
to think about how our individual talents can be used to provide a similar hope and inspiration to others.
Our Splashes of Hope video will be broadcast beginning the week of March 17, 2009. Check it out on
ActivEntrepreneur.com!
Jennifer Ross is the President of
ActivEntrepreneur.com and a strategic
marketing professional. During her career, Jennifer held senior strategic marketing roles and has
consulted for startups, solo entrepreneurs and large corporations. Jennifer is passionate about
being active and uses activity to relax, increase her energy level, connect with people, and inspire
creativity. To promote the benefits of being active and to help other entrepreneurs create an active
social network, Jennifer launched ActivEntrepreneur, an entrepreneurial community that networks,
learns, and mentors while on their feet, instead of in their seat! She also founded 'Walk & Talk™
America' (walk & talk America page) , a twist on traditional business networking that gets entrepreneurs
on their feet to help boost local economies and keep businesses, in business.
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"ActivEntrepreneur is a fun group of motivated business people looking to connect, cooperate, and prosper. Share the movement."
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Frank Morris, Founder, Ecologic Advisors
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