Mike Campfield Foundation

I have been asked a couple of times in the past month to put my dad into words. For some reason this seems like a very daunting task. How do you put someone who was larger than life into words? How can you give someone a sense of who a person was if they never met them? I guess this comes with the territory of starting a foundation but I hadn't fully wrapped my head around the tasks I would be asked to do. The other problems is who my dad was to me may be very different from who he was to someone else. One single person can affect others differently. For me my dad was the man that was responsible for instilling morals and values in me and my siblings. To someone he worked with he was responsible for guiding them throughout their careers and teaching them about the ins and outs of business. Since I have started this adventure I have heard many times "Your dad was like a father to me", or "My favorite piece of advice Mike gave me was....", and then there is always "The thing Mike taught me that has stuck with me was...". He was a father, educator and all around plethora of knowledge. I didn't just lose my dad, my kids lost their grandfather, and I lost a piece of who I am. The reason I believe what I do, the morals I am trying to instill in my children, and the desire to question everything all came from the man I lost. Unless you knew him you probably wouldn't understand most of this. Because for those of you who knew him also knew that he was grounded in his beliefs, outspoken on his opinions, and really didn't care what others thought of him in the process. Integrity meant more to my dad than making friends. Being an honest, kind, honorable person meant more than getting ahead. It was those values that in fact helped him become successful in life. I find it rare these days to see someone willing to stand up for what they believe in, going against all others, just to do what they feel is right. Maybe it is the fact that my dad had such a huge impact on so many people that makes this seems so daunting. Am I doing right by him and his memory? Will others that knew him be gracious as to what I have to say, or will they feel like I got it all wrong? Is what I'm saying about him something that he would approve of? Am I doing the right thing? When my kids see this are they going to be proud of the grandpa they lost? The pressure this job has is much more than I ever expected. I will just keep going with the faith that I am doing the right thing.

We have our first silent auction in five days. I put myself under the gun a bit by deciding to put all of this together in less than two months. In many ways I feel like I am planning another wedding, but on a bigger scale. I didn't realize the undertaking it would be to do this. I started out wanting to honor the man who had faught so hard during his battle with cancer. As word got out about what we were doing I was flooded with donations and people wanting to help me in my journey. I am very humbled by all of this. We now have recieved over $50,000 in donations and gifts for the auction. I want everyone to know that I'm doing this to help others. I have seen first hand what this disease does to our loved ones and I want others to know that they are not alone in this. There is a whole community out there of loved ones left behind. I use the phrase "battle cancer with the grace of a cowboy" for a specific reason. The biblical definition of grace is forgiveness. My dad took on his battle with a spirit of forgiveness. He never let cancer define who he was, or change his beliefs. I want others to feel that spirit of forgiveness by receiving the support they need. Check back after the 7th and I will have more information on specific scholarships we are providing as well as the cancer sufferers we will be helping. Again I appreciate everyone who is supporting our cause.

Charity