Welcome back to the Bull Pen. As we approach the holiday season, it's a great time to reflect on those people and things you are thankful for. I have always been a "glass half full" kind of guy, so with that in mind let's get started. 
Thanks for the Memories...
If you were to ask me six years ago, would you be interested in becoming an EMT or becoming an instructor for Accident Scene Management or the American Heart Association, I would have thought about it for a moment and politely declined. I had a successful career in the financial world working for gas & electric utility companies managing energy portfolios.
Near the end of my energy career I was involved in a serious motorcycle accident which resulted in a broken collar bone, broken ribs and head injury which left me looking like something out of a horror movie. Much like Isaac Newton being hit on the head with an apple, this accident made me reflect on what mattered most. My priorities were to spend more time with my bride Eileen and our two children Clay (15) and Emma (11). I also wanted to do more to help people, which is ultimately why, with some help from some amazing folks, I founded the Rescue Riders. I knew how helpless you feel when laying in the road after being the victim of a motorcycle accident and hoping other bikers could help.
What was I thinking? Think about it? What business does a guy with a finance background have starting a nonprofit group to help educate, train and deploy bikers as emergency medics? As the profit Wayne would have said, "I'm not worthy". Maybe I was worthy but certainly not qualified. To say the learning curve was monumental was an understatement. About the same time, I decided to open an Allstate Insurance agency so I prayed that this old dog could indeed learn some new tricks. There were many times I wanted to throw in the towel and focus on earning a living as to be honest with you, any hour you are volunteering, you aren't earning. There were multiple personal & professional sacrifices along the way and each time I thought about giving up, you brought me back. If you were judge the Rescue Riders as a business, we would be considered a struggling venture. To me however, nothing could be further from the truth. What a departure for a finance guy to consider a financially strapped organization as a success. In my office, I have a file I call "higher calling". In that file are your notes & letters sharing how you either provided or received aid from one of our volunteers. In a handful of cases, lives were saved as a result of our volunteers so in my book there is no higher measure of success we can achieve.
More than five years after the start of this journey I am happy to share with you that while we have not arrived, we are solidly on track at building an organization you can be proud of. It has taken amazing dedication and hard work from our leadership team & you, our volunteers. We now have over 3000 trained volunteers in forty states serving fellow bikers as Good Samaritans. Well done.
As we prepare for 2011, I am looking forward to welcoming some new leaders to our ranks and also supporting my successor. It has been one of the greatest honors to be a part of this program and I look forward to our collective success in the future.
Well, that's it for this month. When I am not sharing my wisdom with you via my editorials or volunteering for the Rescue Rider program, I run an insurance agency West of Chicago. I enjoy working with fellow bikers helping you protect what matters most. If I can help you please drop me a note at deanakey@allstate.com or give me a call at 877-232-9899. I would love to hear from you. Until next month, enjoy the ride.
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