It's been a tough year for a lot of folks. We've all had headaches and drama, but some people have it real bad.

Earlier this year I became involved with the Lowcountry Food Bank through a mutual friend, Mark Smith. Mark is a partner in the McAlister-Smith Funeral Home chain here in Charleston. Mark is a great guy, hard worker, smart, and runs a real successful business. Like me, he is also raising a family and trying to balance it all. When he invited me to be on the Board of Directors for the LCFB, he assured me it was a special opportunity. Because of my respect for him, I told him I would check it out.

I've served on boards before, and find that I'm just not cut out for it. Things move too slowly, too few people are active, things get off on tangents, the politics involved, and overall I just find it a frustrating experience. Not so with the LCFB.

From the first board meeting, I realized I was sitting in a room with a bunch of overacheivers. The board is made up of folks from all walks of life, but they all have one thing in common: They get it DONE. From preparing the financial statements, to filling at-risk school kids backpacks with food for the weekend, to the new multi-million distribution facility, it's getting DONE. For a guy like me, that's real inspiring. So to see these people rocking and rolling, well it challenged me to take action. But what could a flower shop owner do?

I was in the process of having our four delivery vehicles graphics re-worked. Driving down the I-26 one day, I saw a billboard for the LCFB stating "Together we can end hunger in the lowcountry". I thought it was a great sign, and was surprised I hadn't seen it before. Then I realized that I was on a section of highway I just don't drive very often. I thought it would be great if I could put it on one of our vans and create a moving billboard. Craig McLaughlin of McLaughlin Design created the lay-out, donating his time and expertise. Matt Brooks of Fast Signs jumped on board and did it at a discount. Again, it was inspiring how these folks just stepped up and made it happen. Now this van is on the road 40 hours a week, spreading the word. It won't change the world, but it might help just a bit.

We came up with another opportunity to help the LCFB. As you may know, we teach many flower design classes at Tiger Lily through Trident Technical College. They are very successful, and quickly sell out with a waiting list. We wanted to use that pent-up demand to help the LCFB.

On December 16th, we are holding a one night Tiger Lily Holiday Flower Design Class to benefit the LCFB. We hope to have 50 people at the new LCFB Center. Each will donate $50 to the LCFB, roll up their sleeves, and create their own fresh flower holiday arrangement valued at $100. Clara and the rest of our award-winning design team will be on hand to instruct. We will donate our time, flowers and other product, with the help of several of our vendors. It should be a high-energy, fun evening raising $2,500 for the LCFB. We would love to hold at least four per year, with an overall annual contribution of $10,000. That will fill a lot of backpacks with food.

This year Paul Hulsey committed to a $1 Million donation to the LCFB. He is a very successful local lawyer, who grew up with personal experiences of hunger. What a story. Anita Zucker committed a $500,000 donation. The Zucker family has long been an inspiration to me and Clara. Everyone in Charleston knows them as probably the most successful business people in our community. It's no secret that are on the list of the world's billionaires. I've had the oppotunity to speak with them a couple of times and it was easy to see what they are all about. It is NOT business, money, or stuff. It IS family, children and education. That's keeping it real.

Not all of us can cut a check for a hundred grand, but we can do something. We'll start with a moving billboard and a flower design fund raiser and see where it takes us.