By now, you probably know that several of us at ALAN love a good sports story. So humor us while we talk about Simone Biles.
While you may think we’re going to talk about how she came back from a dismal Olympic experience in Tokyo to win several medals in Paris, we’d like to focus on a moment that was a little less triumphant – her fall from the balance beam during the apparatus final.
Afterwards, she didn’t offer excuses. But she did offer an explanation: “Honestly, we feel better in environments when there’s noise going on,” she said, mentioning that the crowd was almost “weirdly” quiet during competitors’ beam routines.
Many returning Olympians know exactly what she means, because they’ve experienced the opposite. Throughout these games they’ve frequently talked about the return of spectators and their super-loud cheers. And most have said it’s made their performances considerably better.
All of us at ALAN can also relate.
Each time a disaster hits, it marks the beginning of another challenging “routine” for us – frequently checking in with our non-profit and government partners; fielding myriad extra requests for donated logistics assistance; coordinating with various in-kind donors to ensure help arrives as quickly as needed; and much, much more.
It’s a balancing act we’ve practiced often over the years, so much so that like Simone, performing it should feel as simple as breathing. Even so, we always find ourselves feeling a bit anxious. (Yes, that even happens to disaster relief organizations.)
But then our family, friends and other members of the crowd start to show up and cheer us on. Friends like:
- Our association partners, who help us get the word out to their members
- Our in-kind supporters, who either fill out a pre-offer or reach out to ask what they can do
- Our financial donors, who enable us to have enough personnel and resources to meet the challenges at hand
- And colleagues like you, who take the time to offer words of encouragement, share our disaster relief messages or say yes to a donated logistics request
And once that happens, we get an incredible sense of peace, calm and confidence that makes all the difference in the world.
It’s definitely been that way this week, as Hurricane Debby has slowly made her way across many parts of the Southeast. And I know it will continue to be that way as we help various survivors pick up the pieces after this prolonged storm.
Now, as always, we’re so thankful to know that you’re there. In fact, you could say that your support is… golden.
The ALAN Team
