Pub. 57 2016-2017 Issue 1

8  APRIL ANCIRA — CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 me at CHUCK E. CHEESE’S, and I am sitting in a teeny tiny car that is obviously too small for me, and Hope wanted to ride it over and over again. I intentionally had my husband take a picture of me looking annoyed and posted it. It did so, so, so well. However, one young lady had posted that, ‘I could at least pretend to enjoy being with my daughter and what she wouldn’t give to have one more day with her daughter.’ OH….What a sinking feeling I had. I immediately contacted her, ‘Dear Mrs. Steele… I am so sorry….’ It turned out that her daughter Alexis had passed away only a few years ago at the age of nine from Leukemia. Long story short, I told her that I had thought about raising money for LLS, and now it was a must. I was going to run for Woman of the Year and it was Alexis that would guide me, and if I would raise $50,000 I would be able to name a research grant after her. I was skeptical I could get to $50,000 but I wanted to do it.… Several meetings later and a tour of Alexis’s room, they were on board. This was for Alexis Steele. I never dreamed I would be able to hit over $234,000.… Never. However, it is the amazing friends and family I have, my husband Jason Thompson, the partners Ancira has, the amazing community and generous hearts that reside in SanAntonio AND with TADA and SAADA’s help that Alexis and I were able to achieve something so awesome. At $234,000, my dealer competitors were even at my fundraisers, manufacture reps attended, and it was a beautiful thing to see. I have to say this… the management TEAM at ANCIRA was STELLAR. Not only did they donate LARGE amounts of their own checks but they wanted to know how they could support any and all of the fundraising events or ideas I had. Without our TEAMat ANCIRA as whole at ANCIRA, NONE of this would be possible. NONE. I owe them every thanks. So, while I thought I would take next year off, it appears the oppor- tunities to help are still there, and I can’t help it. Next year I will be chairing the Go Red for Women Heart Luncheon, in 2018 – Family Service, in 2019 – Cystic Fibrosis Tower Run, and 2020 - UTSA Great Conversations. I want people to pick up the phone when I call. So when I was raising money for Salvation Army, I realized that I could only ask people to support a cause one time a year. Everyone knows I will show up at their door once a year and only once so they can answer my emails and calls, because I respect that I am one of a million asks, and it has resulted in increases and participation year after year. It’s incredible. While I love work and family because they are almost one and the same considering my husband works at Ancira, my Dad is the boss, and my kids are in the commercials, I have plenty of crazy extracurriculars. I have a pilot’s license, have done standup comedy, won a local Danc- ing with the Stars competition, and while I have done plenty of races, I just finished two 140.6 mile IRONMAN races in 2.5 months. My next goal is to sing the National Anthem at a Spurs Game, and only because I have been told I am terrible.This goal seems to be eludingme.  APRIL ANCIRA — CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7