by Dan Driscoll
I have lived in Cedar Rapids much of my life. I lived in Iowa City for 15 years and my professional life was going very well. However, I was traveling every week and really felt like a nomad in my own town. My wife and I decided to move back to Cedar Rapids with our two small kids nearly 6 years ago. One of the things I committed to was to be involved in the community I live and work in. I landed at TrueNorth Companies downtown Cedar Rapids and found out rather quickly how philanthropic they are as an organization. I started to look at opportunities to help support and to give back.
Over 8 years ago, I was asked to play in a golf event. All I was told is there was a lot of fun to be had that day. I showed up and was introduced to the EIAA group. For whatever reason, on our first tee box of the day, I was greeted by a women asking me to Salsa dance with her! I haven’t missed an outing since! I got to learn more about what the program was all about and became more interested in just the golf event. Eventually, I was asked by Chad Greenlee to join the board.
When I tell people that I am on the board of EIAA, I usually get a quick chuckle afterwards. This has NOTHING to do with the agency I’ve chosen to support, the laughs are directed at me. Simply put, I was/am a jock. I literally have no musical or artistic talents what-so-ever. What I have always had though is a deep appreciation of people who do things I simply never could. I absolutely love seeing people be creative in whatever it is they do. I find it fascinating to watch someone play a piano or paint a picture knowing that my skill level in either is bottom of the barrel. I am likely a bit of an odd ball on the board, but I believe I give a unique perspective. I have a decent pedigree of business savviness, I have many connections in the community and I am an avid proponent for the program as a whole. Personally, I love that EIAA is for all comers; underprivileged, privileged, young, old, teens and everything in between.