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Who Is Dave Gray, Really?
Before I
tell you who I am, let me tell you what I'm not.
I'm not a con or a crook or
a shyster. I'm not out to get people for all I can and then walk away.
I'm a 54-year-old guy who likes helping people.
I love my family and they're proud of me. No amount of money could ever make me do anything to risk losing their respect.
I enjoy what I do and I've
worked hard to build a business I can be proud of. I look forward to helping my
children become successful in this business when they get old enough.
I value the friendships I've made
in this business, and I want you to be glad you got to know me.
Because of my Internet business,
I'll be able to retire in dignity.
What do I mean, "retire in
dignity"?
I mean that if one of my kids needs a hand, or one of my grandchildren needs a serious
operation, or if one of my friends needs something, I know I'll be able to be there for them.
You see, a few years ago, I saw an elderly woman standing in a drizzling rain outside our local
Wal-Mart asking for donations for her sick granddaughter. The little girl needed an organ transplant and the
hospital required a certain amount of money before they could put her on the waiting list for a donor.
I can't remember the amount, but I remember it was well over one hundred thousand
dollars.
I was stunned.
How could this happen in the richest country in the world?
Suddenly, I couldn't even remember why I was going to Wal-Mart or what I was going to
buy. Nothing they had inside was nearly as important as what that woman was trying so desperately to do
standing there on that wet sidewalk by the doors.
In the days and weeks that followed, I couldn't help but think about that poor woman
and the granddaughter she loved so much.
I couldn't help but imagine how helpless she must have felt as people dropped dimes and
quarters in her coffee can.
And it occurred to me... that same thing could happen to ANYONE...
...and it could happen to ME.
Twenty-five years from now that could be me standing in the rain asking
strangers for pocket change in a desperate race to somehow raise enough money to save my granddaughter's
life.
I made up my mind that I was going to do something to become wealthy.
Wealthy.
You've heard it means different things to different people. I guess you'll know
something about me if I tell you what "wealthy" means to me.
I live just outside of Nashville, Tennessee.
We know a little bit about wealthy, here.
Alan Jackson. Conway Twitty. Garth Brooks.
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. Toby Keith. Reba McIntyre. Randy Travis. Johnny Cash.
The list goes on and on.
Gold albums and platinum CD's. Sold-out international tours and royalty checks for
years and years and YEARS.
$4 million mansions? We've got 'em. Million dollar tour busses? All over town. Private
jets and chauffeur-driven limos? Everywhere.
We've even got our share of billionaires.
If money can buy it, you'll find it in Nashville.
But let me tell you about a fellow who's wealthy. I don't know his name, and I can't
remember the name of the town, but not far from here there's a little town where EVERY kid who makes it
through high school goes to college.
ONE MAN decided that he would go back to the town where he grew up and pay for every
kid to go to college.
Not just this year and next, but EVERY KID FROM NOW ON!!!
All they have to do is stay in school and they'll go to college!!!
This one man set up a trust fund and that fund pays for a full-time secretary who makes
sure that each kid who graduates from high school gets all the grants and scholarships he or she qualifies
for and then the fund kicks in and pays the balance.
Can you IMAGINE the lives that one man will touch?
Mom and dad don't have to scrimp and save every spare dime to pay for college, so they can afford
to buy their kids the computer they need to help with their education.
The kids work harder at school because they know they're going to be able to go to
college.
The schools don't leave anybody behind... they're preparing EVERY student for college!
Not ONE of these kids will have to drop out of college half way through and get a job.
Not ONE of them will be saddled with student loan payments for years after they
graduate.
Can you IMAGINE?!?!?
My friend... THAT'S WEALTHY!!!!
I don't know what it cost him to set that up, but I'll bet it was less than the price
of ONE 25,000 square foot mansion.
How would YOU like to be able do something like that?
What would it cost to set up a free grocery store for folks who lost their jobs? Bread,
milk, cereal, canned goods... just the basics.
How about a free clothing store for homeless children? Warm coats and decent shoes that
fit.
How about a new auditorium for your church, or a new bus for the church
in the next town up the road?
Big houses and shiny cars are O.K., but that's just not my idea of what wealthy
means.
Travel? I don't care if I NEVER see Europe or Asia or Africa. I could spend my whole
life seeing the United States and never feel like I missed anything.
But I really ENJOY helping people.
Family, friends, neighbors, strangers, it doesn't matter... I just really enjoy helping
people.
And I know WHY I enjoy helping people.
I grew up in a little town along the Illinois River. My dad's family lived in town and
worked in a factory. My mom's family lived in the country and farmed.
When the river flooded, everybody in town pitched in and helped evacuate the people who
lived along the river banks. It didn't matter who they were. All that mattered was getting them and their
pets and their belongings out of harm's way. If people hadn't voluntarily joined in the rescue, it would
have been disastrous.
Out in the country I saw the same thing in a different way. When my grandfather had to
have hip surgery, farmers came from miles around to help get his crops out of the field. They brought their
own combines and worked side-by-side, daylight to dark. Some of them hadn't even finished harvesting their
own crops, but they were there because someone needed help.
That's how I was raised. People who didn't need help right now helped those who
did.
That was back in the '50's and '60's and things have changed, but it's still a fact
that people can get more done when they pull together for a common cause.
And today, maybe more than ever, there are people who need help finding a way to solve
their time and money problems.
I didn't mean for this to go on like it has, but I think you know me a little better
now.
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