Saturday, January 18, 2014

Children's Shelter WINS!

Thank YOU!!! You guys took the time out of your day to vote and I appreciate it! I'm sure my face in your Facebook news feed became annoying because I was sick of seeing my face as well!

The website www.weatherist.com will be making their official announcement on Monday, but it appears WE (all of us) won. As I mentioned at the start of this competition, there are many people in my business more deserving of the title. I love my job, I love working in Region 8, and I hope it shows each night.

But, I wanted to push this competition because $500+ will go to The Children's Shelter in Walnut Ridge. While $500 is a lot of money for them, I think Region 8 can do even more. That's why I want to encourage you to donate to them online.


Some of you have asked why I chose The Children's Shelter and if there was a personal connection. The short answer is, yes.

There is something going in Arkansas that we don't talk about much, we don't see it on the news too often, and honestly, we try to ignore it. Over 4,000 kids are in the foster care system in Arkansas. Over 1,000 of those kids are in Region 8. What does that mean? Generally speaking, these kids do not have parents that can take care of them. It might be temporary or it might be permanent, but they need somewhere to sleep, eat, be encouraged, be trained, and be loved. I chose The Children's Shelter because that is a place where a small percentage of these kids can go.

What can you do to help the problem? There are several options:

  • Become foster parents.
  • Adopt the kids that need permanent homes
  • Donate to a children's shelter, home, or orphanage. 
  • Volunteer time at a local organization that helps this problem: The Call, Christians for Kids, Children's Shelter, Children's Home in Paragould, or many more.
  • Constantly ask your State Senators and Representatives what we are doing to help solve this problem.
If you are a Christian, James 1:27 says that we should take action. If you are not a Christian, I'm sure you also understand that we all have to help when there are 4,000 foster children in our state. We can do more. We must do more. Despite what we may or may not think about the parents involved in these situations, we can agree that the kids deserve an opportunity.

Finally, I want to thank my friend, Eric Sorensen. Eric is the meteorologist in Rockford, IL that came in second and gave me a scare a few times that we were going to lose. Eric has a great charity that he supports as well. His Facebook page can be found here.

I can't thank you enough. It's been fun. Maybe I can take what I've learned to run for political office one day! Ha! Kidding... or am I?

Have a great weekend!
Ryan


9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you Ryan! I love that you also promote what people can do to help the children in our area. There is a constant need for foster /adoptive parents. The children in our area deserve for us to step up and do all that we can to improve their lives. Thank you for doing your part!

Kristi said...

Congratulations and thank you so much for continuing to shine the spotlight on foster care. As the adoptive mom of two little blessings who once spent some time at a children's shelter, I know firsthand the benefits of a good one. Thanks to you and all who voted for helping make NEA a safer place for these kids.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Ryan and thank you for being a great neighbor in Region 8. Our community appreciates your hard work and wanted to prove that in votes. If you want to run for office we will continue to support you, but we know where your passion truly lies.

Allison Vanaman Dixson said...

Ryan! I have personally worked with the staff at The Children's Shelter in walnut ridge for over 4 years now, and they are some of the most loving, maternal, encouraging people I have encountered in my line of work. I am proud of them and proud you won for them and those children! They can always use the donations of toys, clothes, food, and money! Thank you for what you do for Region 8! (p.s. you and Jeremy Biggs can run for office together!! You'd have my vote!)

Anonymous said...

I have to admit two things, and then some commentary.

#1 I constantly make fun of weathermen, including KAIT's team.

#2 I didn't vote.

However, after reading Ryan's blog post, I'm ashamed of what a shallow view I had taken on this.

I thought it was a goofy popularity contest / pep-rally for everyone's own local weatherguy/gal, and for many of them, it surely was. That's fine, but not anything I care enough about to spend any time or energy thinking about, unless, of course, it's to poke fun.

After seeing Ryan Vaughan's response on his blog I feel like a scrooge. I may not ever watch weather forecasts, but I will start giving people more credit, regardless of their jobs or my bias toward or against the importance of that job. Ryan Vaughan's advocacy for children is far more important than any snarky comments I might have about weather forecasts.

I thought I was the one pointing out people being shallow. I was way off the mark. I was being shallow. I can't compliment Ryan Vaughan enough for his response to the results of this contest.

I learned that he goes to many of the schools in the area to teach kids about the weather, and that he is very kind and generous to all the kids who look up to him. He uses his recognition for something positive, and I've got nothing "clever" to say about that.

Congratulations, Ryan. Your response says so much more about you than winning, and you recognizing that is sobering to someone who had given up on "good guys".

teecee said...

Funny... I was just thinking last night about your possible bid for President! I really think you would have a fightin' chance! :)

Ronda from Pocahontas said...

Congrats Ryan, but most of all congrats to the Children's Shelter. I was thinking, what if everyone that voted donated just $1.00 to the Children's Shelter. I know many of us voted on a daily basis so our donations would not add up to your total votes, but it would end up in the thousands and that's if we all just donate $1.00 if some of us got crazy generous and donated lets say $5.00 the Children's Shelter would be over the moon with appreciation. Just a thought. My donation is on the way.

Anonymous said...

Congrats children's shelter!

Beth Brown said...

Congratulations Ryan. I voted for you several times. I live in WR and I personally want to thank you for donating the $500.00 to the Childrens shelter. We in Walnut Ridge enjoys your attitude and the things you have done.. What a Christian example... I enjoy watching my weather.

Bill and Beth Brown