For the last 25 plus years I have spent most of my time investing in others. Whether that’s involved one on one care, helping people with relationship issues, working alongside others on outreach projects, or serving and investing in others, it is just a huge part of my life. I can honestly say that I start every day with a purpose of not only looking for the needs of others that I might encounter, but also committed to doing what I can, when given the opportunity to make a difference in a need. I also spend much of my day inspiring others to do the same thing.
Dictionary definition of the word Inspire.
Committed to Recognizing Needs
At Russell Cellular, the RC Cares mission is to make sure we are committed to recognizing the needs around us. Then doing what we can to help meet those needs, for the sole purpose of making a positive impact in someone’s life. Sometimes that involves raising financial support and sometimes it’s about raising awareness to a specific cause or need. Sometimes that has involved getting out into our communities and serving with our hands and feet. While sometimes it just involves stopping long enough to listen to team member share their current struggle. The biggest part of this all isn’t so much how we respond to the need, it’s the fact that we simply chose to respond and did what we could to help in the moment. It’s important and it matters more than we could ever know.
Person holding hands out with make a change note.
Lesson Learned
At the same time, there is something we have to be careful of when a life of serving others becomes the life we choose to live. I have learned this over the many years of this being my life, and usually, learned the hard way. This lesson is something that I also echo to not only our teams here at Russell Cellular but also to the many others I get the humble honor of leading and teaching every week. That lesson…make sure while you are taking care of others, you are also taking care of yourself. It’s easy to get so caught up in the awesomeness of investing in others that we lose sight of the fact that we can wear down in the process, losing our focus. We might still see the needs around us, but we are so tired we just don’t do anything about them.
5 Year Accomplishments
At Russell Cellular, over the past 5 years, our teams have been a part of over 1,000 outreach projects and have raised nearly one million dollars to support those projects. We have logged thousands of volunteer hours helping build and remodel homes. Served at community events like American Heart Association Heart Walks, blood drives, and school functions. We have served at homeless shelters, outreach centers, 5k runs, and even the St. Jude Marathon. We have spent time with crying team members, hurting customers, and even the random stranger that we just “happened” to run into. All this while working our normal jobs, taking care of our families, and honestly sometimes just trying to make it ourselves. As awesome as all this is, if we lose ourselves in the process, we will begin to lose the impact we are making as well.
A line of runners racing during a 5K race.
A Challenge for You
Something tells me you can relate. If you can, then this challenge is for you. Keep your heart and your eyes open for the needs around you. Do what you can to help meet those needs. Serve and give all you can for the sole purpose of making a difference in someone’s life. And in the process, never forget to invest in one of the most important people in your life…YOU! There will be times you need to rest. Times you need to disconnect, and times you just need to get away to spend a moment for YOU. Recharge, regroup, and then reconnect. You will be better because you did. I can promise you; lives will be changed in the process…one of which will be yours!
It does not take long to realize we are right in the middle of the holiday season. Long lines at stores, crazy traffic, festive lights, decorated trees and lighter bank accounts. As chaotic as it is, it is the season and I think we’ve learned to manage it if not embrace it every year. Another thing I think a large majority of people do during this season is take for granted that everyone is happy this time of year. I mean they have to be right? Santa, reindeer, presents and parties… Who wouldn’t be happy!
Reality is that many people are facing situations and struggles that honestly leave very little to be happy about. A medical diagnosis, the loss of a loved one, an on-going battle or just simply trying to make it and wondering how in the world will they ever provide Christmas for their kids. These situations, and others like them, leave people stressed, worried and feeling helpless during a time that is supposed to be full of hope and happiness. And for everyone else, it so easy to get lost in the joy of our own holiday season and miss the opportunities in front of us to help change someone else’s.
Holiday Giving
At Russell Cellular, we are intentional with both our hearts and our message in the importance of not only seeing the needs around us but then doing what we can to help meet those needs. District Sales Manager, Taylor Belcher, and her team jumped into action when it came to holiday giving this year. They helped provide holiday meals for local families, that honestly, would not have been able to enjoy them otherwise.
Or our home office team that came together to provide Christmas presents for local foster children that found themselves in an unfamiliar and scary place this holiday season. Or maybe it’s like our Batesville, AR team that inspired their entire district to raise support for one of our own team members. Reagan, an RC team member, recently started having seizures due a mass found on her brain that also caused her to lose her unborn child. We are so proud of our RC family for rallying around Reagan during this time.
Meeting Needs Around Us
In none of these situations are we trying to fix their problems. Money can’t do that. But what we were trying to do was help someone smile that maybe didn’t think they had a reason. Help them find hope when maybe they thought hope was lost. Help them realize they weren’t battling alone, and that people genuinely cared. Hopefully, in the process we would inspire them to someday return the investment to someone else.
Fact is, and I truly believe this with all my heart, when people decide to invest in others for the sole purpose of making a positive impact in their life, not for recognition, reward or personal gain but simply because it’s the right thing to do, not only do people’s lives change…families change, communities change and ultimately, I believe our world changes.
No doubt you are busy, especially right now during this season. I’m sure you’re planning your Christmas parties, your family get togethers, wrapping the perfect gift and getting ready to experience the joy that comes with this season, and I truly hope that for you and your family, it’s the best Christmas yet! At the same time, I pray you see a need, and in that moment, you decide to do what YOU can to help meet that need. I promise that your decision to do so will change lives…one of which will be yours!
Last week we introduced you all to our philanthropic branch here at Russell Cellular called RC Cares. Community outreach and fundraising are just some of the ways RC Cares invests in our team members and our communities.
On any given day the average person will come in contact with at least one person who has a major need in their life. More times than not it will be multiple people. Regardless of the number, the fact is, there are needs all around us. The bigger question isn’t the number of needs around me, it’s asking the question ‘what can I do to help meet those needs?’ In fact, I would say most people are pretty good at identifying and even seeing those needs. The problem is that seeing a need, knowing that a need is there, that in itself doesn’t do anything to make a positive impact in that person’s life. It will always be our actions that make the biggest difference.
In the picture below, alongside wireless representative Ashlee Lemus from our Douglas, GA location, is the Faust family. They recently lost their 6-month-old baby unexpectedly to RSV. I can’t imagine the hurt and pain they have experienced from this tragedy, yet they are forced to continue on with life, both of them working two jobs in the middle of their grief to simply support their family.
Ashlee heard about their story. She saw a need. No doubt she was moved by their situation. How could someone not be right? But just knowing wasn’t enough. Knowing caused a moving, an action towards trying to do something to try and help this family. This wasn’t about trying to fix a problem because there is no fix for this type of situation. This was just an opportunity to do something for someone simply because it was the right thing to do. So, Ashlee inspired her team members as well as those from our Fitzgerald, GA location to donate $1,000 to the Faust family from money they had raised from the sale of our RC Cares Products.
These are products that are in all of our locations and are available for our customers to purchase. One hundred percent of the proceeds is donated back into our local communities to help people and organizations that have needs. You can help us on our mission to serve our community through outreach and fundraising by visiting your local Russell Cellular store.
RC Cares is the employee engagement and philanthropic arm of Russell Cellular. We believe the culture of family should extend to our customers, and we’re committed to giving back to our communities. The RC Cares team works closely with team members in our retail locations and Home Office on a variety of community outreach projects and philanthropy work to celebrate successes and support employees and community members through times of need.
Who is Ron Wallace?
“What is a Ron Wallace?” At Russell Cellular in 2017, this was a common question throughout the company. In July of that year, Ron Wallace was hired by RC as the “Employee and Community Outreach Advocate”. What does that even mean? Team members were slightly confused, as Ron’s extensive background included work in ministry and counseling, but not wireless retail. So why would RC hire Ron Wallace?
Ron’s onboarding helped to shape and represent the heart of RC. With Ron’s leadership, Russell Cellular ventured into the formalization of a new employee and community program. Thus, RC Cares was born and quickly Ron’s title became Director of RC Cares. Caring for people and communities was nothing new to RC. In fact, the Russell family and national team members had been giving to local causes and initiatives for 25 years. But RC Cares became a way to structure the opportunities, and to give every store a local fund that they could utilize in their communities as they saw needs arise in their town.
Not only did outreach causes become identified, but employee emergency assistance was further enhanced. With RC Cares, employees now had an official process to apply for and receive small grants if they or their immediate family were in need. Employees began to contribute to the employee emergency fund in record numbers, and that allowed for a record number of team members to be assisted in 2021.
Ron’s inspiration and passion is unmatched, and his willingness to help people in need is unwavering. Join us as we hear from Ron’s heart and listen as he discusses practical ways that we can support those around us, and ourselves.
Community Outreach and Philanthropy
There are needs all around us every day. People in our communities that we know and see that are hurting or struggling. It might be an emergency or event that has happened and has left them in a situation that has greatly impacted or changed their life. The bigger question that we like to ask ourselves here at Russell Cellular, is “what are we doing to help with those needs”? That is where RC Cares comes in. We want to be a part of the positive impact that helps change someone’s life. With community outreach events, philanthropy, fundraising through product sales, donations that we take and make, or more, we just want to make a difference. Our teams all over the nation are working every day to help make a difference in the lives of their friends, family, and communities.
This blog series is not to highlight what we are doing here at Russell Cellular, but rather inspire others to make a difference too. Through these stories that we will share here, we hope that you too will join us in being the change in this world.
