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Every year for the past 8 years Barefoot has been a big part of a local organization called Happen, which inspires creativity in kids and their families. It was founded by Tommy Rueff back in 1998. What makes that so special is that Tommy was one of the original partners of Barefoot. I worked with him here when there were only 3 employees. So, I have a personal connection not only with Happen but with Tommy and all the good that he does for so many people, especially the kids. He’s a true inspiration to me.

Happen is an award-winning non-profit arts organization, founded for children and adults to share creative experiences that strengthen today’s family structure both personally and within our community. Their vision is to every day, create a positive environment where shared creative experiences happen that participants look back on as life-changing. You should go to their site, look around www.happeninc.com and check out all of the cool things that they do.

So, every summer we participate in a program called “Lights. Camera. Learning in Action.” This is a program where every Tuesday in July, a group of kids from 8 homeless shelters across Cincinnati come together to make a movie. It’s written, filmed and produced by them, and they design, create and illustrate all of their own props. It’s really cool. At the end of the session, their movie will premiere on the big screen in a local movie theater at Cincinnati’s Union Terminal (a renovated, art-deco train station) in front of all of their parents, the volunteers and the Happen employees. It’s awesome.

I’ve been volunteering for this every year since it started, and it’s always amazing to see these kids—who are less fortunate and have experienced a life I can’t even begin to imagine—having this time to forget all that’s going on in their lives and just have fun. They’re treated like stars. They’re empowered and filled with more and more confidence every week. And you can see it on their faces.

It makes me happy and proud to see all of the people who volunteer from Barefoot hanging out and experiencing this together. I think it’s incredible that we can take time out of our busy days to give back to something so special—and help support the efforts of one of our original Barefooter’s.

Tommy doesn’t know a lot of the 60-something employees we have now, but that doesn’t stop him from taking them all in as if he had worked with each one of them personally for years. I’m thankful that I had the chance to work with him, but I’m even more thankful that I can be a part (even if it’s just a small part) of the dream Tommy left Barefoot to pursue all those years ago.