Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Alabama is an organization that knows all about the profound impact small gestures can have on people.
Tuesday night, at their third annual BIG Event they welcomed a keynote speaker that says just two words changed the course of his life forever.
"Turn around," were the words Leigh Anne Tuohy uttered to her husband, Sean, as he drove past a large African-American teenager, one snowy, November night in what he describes as a "lily white neighborhood."
In his keynote address at the event at the Battle House Hotel, he offered his take on how the lesson he learned from that night can be applied to the work BBBSSA does with their outreach to over 500 students in the Mobile area.
"It wasn't hard to pick out who the new kid was," he said to the sold-out banquet crowd. He had heard about Michael Oher prior to that encounter. Although, he did easily identify that Oher stood out in his surroundings, what he didn't immediately understand was that Michael had no place to stay and his tattered clothes were 12 years old.
"I don't care where you are in your life," Tuohy said, "You were better off than he was. But he was the happiest kid in America - go figure!"
The events that stemmed from the Tuohy's encounter with Oher lead to adoption, an Ole Miss football career, a Super Bowl and the 2009 film "The Blind Side". However, he maintains that one of the greatest rewards from his life with Oher is simply the spirit of giving. Tuohy points to one comment from his son, Michael, that made him proud to have listened to his wife, as they drove down the road.
"I was hoping somebody would help me."
"All we did was give him a house and some hope. He became the person he was supposed to be," Tuohy said, "That's what you've got to do when you go out to these schools. Give these kids hope."
He wasn't the only person in attendance to drive that point home.
Solomon Davis, III, recently began mentoring with Big Brothers Big Sisters. In a video presentation shown at the BIG Event Davis spoke to the significance of giving back. "A few moments can totally change the trajectory of (a young person's) life," he said.
Since beginning service as a "big" Solomon's most rewarding experience came when his "little" was having a rough day at school. "The teacher wasn't having any success. The principal wasn't having any success. So, they called me," Davis said, just moments after the banquet's conclusion. Davis stepped away from work to spend some one-on-one time with the student. "30 minutes later, we both are in tears, and he goes back and performs amazingly for the rest of the day."
BBBSSA CEO Aimee Risser hopes that attendees at the event will go forth and share the testimonies of Tuohy and the many mentors who attest to the positive changes small acts of kindness to community children may bring about. However, Risser says, it's important that those who are excited about the organization's mission don't stop short of taking action.
"It is very important to us to have people who don't just talk it, but walk it," she said. Risser said Tuohy's story proves that he is a prime example of the organization's ideals, adding that she hopes more people in the Mobile area will "turn around," to "Take a chance on a child that you would normally pass by."