A State of the Union to Remember

@ Philanthropy Day, Wilmington, DE, Nov. 2015 receiving the Rising Star in Youth Philanthropy Award.

Tuesday night will be President Obama’s final SOTU, it is widely speculated that the speech will not about sweeping policy reforms or plans given he has 1 year left in office, rather he will make the most of his final speech talking about where the US was when he took office, where it’s gone under his leadership, where he thinks it can be by the time he leaves office and beyond and how together, we can help get it there. That’s not why this SOTU is special for me personally, though.  It’s someone who will be in attendance that makes this event special for me.

Wednesday afternoon my wife, Christy, got a call from a woman named Kelly with a Washington DC area code. She missed it initially, but when she called back, Kelly answered and explained the reason she was calling.

She wanted to extend an invitation on behalf of First Lady Michelle Obama to Braeden (my step-son) to attend the President’s final State of the Union address as her guest. A bit of history about my step-son Braeden from Time.com:

At the ripe age of 9, Braeden submitted a healthy recipe to a White House contest (what he calls a Tortilla Bowl Deluxe, which features chicken breast chunks and lactose-free cheese) and was invited to attend the 2013 Kid’s State Dinner as a representative for the state of Delaware. Braeden says the First Lady challenged the Epicurious guests to “pay it forward” after their experience at the White House, meaning find ways to promote healthy eating in their own communities.

When Braeden and his mom Christy, 34, were on their way back to Bear, Delaware, after their White House visit, the pre-teen noticed two homeless people at the train station he asked his mom if they could help them out. He wanted to give them money. “And my mom said, you can give them money, but not all of it,” he recalls. “And she said you should find a way to help them more.”

The charge from his mom stuck with him. Days later, the sight of a homeless man with no protection from the rain on a dreary day again made Braeden hungry to help. Once home, he couldn’t stop thinking about the man. “So I went to the pantry and I grabbed a plastic bag and I started filling it up. I asked my mom to drive me back,” he says. He delivered a bag with a bottle of water, a two fruit snacks, a granola bar, and a bag of chips. The man thanked him and by then, he knew exactly how he wanted to answer the First Lady’s call to action.

Braeden launched “Brae’s Brown Bags,” a non-profit organization through which he packs and distributes sacks of healthy food to the homeless and the food insecure around his home state. Each bag would also contain leaflets informing the recipient of shelters and organizations that offer resources that could be useful to the person.

Since 2013, he’s distributed over 4,600 bags, raised over $52,000 dollars and gotten to visit five states–New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Florida, Georgia–to share the message of 3B and inspire other kids to get involved. He launched an offshoot project, 3B Ripples, that helps schools around the country launch their own bag brown projects. Last May, he helped host a regional food conference in Wilmington, where he and nearly 200 other kids talked about food insecurity, eating healthy, and part everyone can play in ending hunger.

I was essentially beyond words when Christy told me. Braeden’s been to the White House twice before, when he won in 2013 and when he was asked back to speak at the Kids’ State Dinner winners in 2014, and both trips were humbling and amazing, but this one is something else. To be asked to sit in a room with Congress, the Supreme Court justices, most of the president’s cabinet, and listen to one of the most important speeches the president can deliver, to be interviewed and featured by Time Magazine, to have your bio posted on the White House website, I don’t even know what to say. I couldn’t be more proud of Braeden and the ideas he’s come up with, the way he’s implemented them, and how he’s stuck with it for the last 3 years. He’s 12, and I know there’s a lot more on his mind than helping those less fortunate than himself, but amongst the normal 12 year-old stuff he still finds time to do this, to help others and set an example that shows everyone that they can help even if they don’t think they have much to offer.

So if you’re planning to watch Tuesday night, look for a familiar face seated with the First Lady. He’s representing Delaware and the best it has to offer.

I love you buddy, I’m so incredibly proud of you and I’ll be watching Tuesday night!