42 PROJECTS IN 42 DAYS: CREATING POSITIVE CHANGE

By Sean Connelly, Founder of the 42 in 42 Movement

In November 2007, while on travel to Lockheed Martin facility in Sunnyvale CA, I visited a beautiful park with rolling hills, a running stream and a humble, respectful monument dedicated to an American hero: Pat Tillman. Pat was an avid volunteer, Army Ranger, pro football player and an academic All-American while wearing number 42 at Arizona State University. To sum it up, he could basically quote Thoreau, run a marathon and inspire a young child, all before most of us ate our breakfast. He won all kinds of awards in life and since his death in 2004 at the age of 26. It seems he has been canonized by the masses as a war hero and gridiron legend. As a boy, Pat played in the area surrounding the monument, and as a professional athlete he would later train in the park’s mountains. As I stood at the monument I thought about what it meant to be a leader and what it was that made Pat such a full spectrum leader. Overcome with inspiration, I left the park with a resolution to create the change I wished to see in the world. It was at that moment the "42 in 42" idea was born.

What started out as a concept of 42 service projects in 42 days turned into a national movement of 138 service projects organized and led by OLDPs, Lockheed Martin employees and friends. Together, more than 1,400 volunteers took the nation by storm for 42 days and injected it with a myriad of acts of service from Hawaii to Pennsylvania and 10 states in between. A few of the projects led by OLDPs involved raising money for breast cancer research, making blankets for children in poor health, shipping supplies overseas to U.S. troops and doing light construction to improve animal shelters. When the dust settled, the "42 in 42" volunteers had raised over $120,000 for various charities and volunteered more than 7,000 hours. Along the way fellow OLDPs assisted with organizing the communication plan and pitched the concept at their Lockheed Martin sites. One OLDP project at an animal shelter in Palmdale, CA, was covered by a local news channel, while another Lockheed Martin project at the Phoenix Ronald McDonald House was featured on FOX News.

Through the leadership of OLDPs Carrie Foster, Angela Campa, Suzanne Clark, Chris Czyzewski, Brent Abrenica, Priscilla Carreon, Rachel McGuire, Trinity Reina, Neil Golke, Jessica Milne and others, the "42 in 42" movement established itself as one of the largest and most diverse charitable undertakings at Lockheed Martin. I am grateful for these young leaders within the OLDP and the hundreds of Lockheed Martin employees who followed through to promote and unite their cause with the "42 in 42" cause. I am also grateful for Pat and the thousands of other heroes who sacrificed their lives on our behalf and serve as inspirations to us all. My hope however is that people may come to know Pat for simply being Pat, because his humble simplicity might be his most heroic attribute. He was never willing to conform. Pat was his own man in all of life’s situations. Despite his laundry list of accomplishments, fame and fortune, he was somehow able to remain true to himself. Pat’s honesty, integrity and humility are leadership characteristics that we should all aspire to.

Through Pat and leaders like him, we know it is possible to lead the masses and still remain humble. We know that physical appearances do not decide fates and true leadership is written on the hearts of common people who come together and do uncommon and extraordinary things. A man once told me that the highest form of respect is not admiration but emulation. To honor Pat is to emulate him. The goal of the "42 in 42" was not to simply stand back and admire the life of Pat Tillman but rather to roll up our sleeves, work together and be like Pat by creating the change we wanted to see in our world. The beauty of the "42 in 42" is that it doesn’t belong to its creator, to Pat or any one person. The "42 in 42" became an idea that turned into a movement started by the OLDP community and movements belong to the people who partake in them. We all now claim ownership and share equally in the joy.