Fried Dough, Fist Bumps, and our Chisholm Trail Middle School Kids!

By Mike Tireman, Chapter Chair for Chisholm Trail Middle School

Let’s rewind to the start of summer… It was May 11th and the kids at Chisholm Trail Middle School wanted to be done with the school year. I get it… We fathers are excited for summer too! That means baseball games, summer vacations, BBQs, pool parties, you name it. But our kids have a few weeks left. How can we help them to finish the year strong?

Fried Dough, Fist Bumps, and positive encouragement.

Daylight Donuts in West Olathe (K-7 & Santa Fe) was gracious enough to supply 560 doughnuts to help brighten our kid’s day! (For those of you who are math people, that’s almost 47 dozen!) LET’S GOOOOO!!!! We couldn’t wait.

We had 12 dads show up to not only pass out doughnuts, but to let our kids know that we are here, and we believe in them! We’ve got you! I can’t be more grateful to not only the dads that were there, but to those who donated their money, or just passed on the information about the event. YOU ROCK AND I APPRECIATE YOU!

The day initially started with me showing up at the wrong Daylight Donut store. WHOOPS!

No worries, I planned accordingly for Dad Mishaps (even we make mistakes sometimes. It’s RARE, but we do). We got the doughnuts and arrived at Chisholm Trail with the goods just in time. Dads were already there. Whew! This was going to be great! And thanks to Mike Davisson (Olathe District Father’s Club District Chair) and Brody Dorland (Olathe South incoming Father’s Club Chair) for getting things rolling as I was en route.

We got the tables set up, music pumping, and both school entries staffed with dads, fists ready to bump, and doughnuts ready to distribute. But one thing we didn’t plan for, THE RAIN! Or did we?!?!?! YOU’RE DARN RIGHT WE DID! We had umbrellas to help keep the kids dry and walked them right up to the yummy deliciousness that is Daylight Donuts as dry as we could keep them!

The day wrapped up when the final bell rang for the kids to get to their classes, and we handed out our last doughnuts right about the same time. It was perfect planning and a great day!

Oh, and one last thing… Photo Op!!! Bring it in dads! Let’s see those pearly whites!

Well, not quite the last thing.

I had to let everything dry out in my garage. No need for that nastiness when I open everything back up! (This is a public service announcement for other chapter chairs.)

To see the kids’ smiles, their attitudes, their gratitude, their demeanor change right before our eyes… That’s IT! If we can be a catalyst for positivity in our community by being present for our kids, count me in! We received incredible feedback from not only our kids, but also parents, teachers, and members of our community. It was wonderful.

Dads… thank you! Know that our kids appreciate you being there for them! If we changed the trajectory of a day for just one of our kids, we did our job! I’ve talked with kids personally that want you to know they really enjoyed you being there for them. (With delicious fried dough in their bellies). Oh yeah!

To Daylight Donuts in West Olathe, we appreciate you! Thank you for working with us to bring beautiful doughnuts to our kids at a reasonable price. You are amazing!

To Rick Sola and Chisholm Trail, thank you for giving us the space and flexibility to be on site and allow us to bring our mission to the kids. It has been an amazing experience so far and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for our partnership together.

To any dads who want to be a part of this awesome club, come on in! With resolve, humility, and love, our mission is to be a catalyst for positive influence around the world. If that sounds like that’s pretty cool to be a part of, guess what… IT IS! I love it and can’t wait for our next opportunity at the Father’s Club Chisholm Trail Middle School Chapter!

We’ll see you on the flip flop!! DUECES!!!