Month: July 2021

Patrick Weatherly has been involved with Magic Moments for the past three years as a junior board member. He first heard about Magic Moments through his job at ServisFirst Bank. ServisFirst is a long time sponsor of Magic Moments and Patrick was introduced to the organization through our annual Sporting Clay Shoot at Selwood Farms, where he got to shoot clays with his coworkers and also learn more about the Magic Moments mission.

What drew Weatherly into Magic Moments was witnessing his first reveal. He said he was hooked and knew then that Magic Moments was worth putting his time and energy into.

The fundraiser that Weatherly looks forward to the most is the annual Junior Board Masters Tournament Party. According to Weatherly, it is the “best time of the year to be outside raising money.”

His favorite magic moment story to share was when he helped a child pick out toys and electronics at a shopping spree at BestBuy. The magic moment recipient he was helping knew exactly what he wanted and Weatherly enjoyed being a part of the moment.

Weatherly said that if he were to receive his very own magic moment it would be to fly with the Blue Angels.

Davy Autry, a senior capital project engineer at International Paper, and a long time member of our River Region Council, has a very personal connection to Magic Moments. His son, Caleb, received a Magic Moment almost 20 years ago. For the past 15 years, he’s been involved with the organization as a Magic Maker.

“I spent many hours in Children’s Hospital watching other children, as well as, my own. I often wondered how I could make a difference in their lives,” Davy said. “My son received his magic moment and then we got involved with Family Camp. I saw that Magic Moments made a difference for my son and our whole family. I saw the smiles on other children’s faces. I realized that this was a way that I could make a difference.”

“My favorite Magic Moments story has always been to share about our own experience. My son chose to go to Disney World. Of course, this is really a trip to all the theme parks in Orlando. So many times we had to leave our daughter behind to seek help for my son, but when we left for this trip, she got to go too. We stayed at Give Kids the World, which could be a vacation by itself. My son received a button to wear to all the theme parks that allowed us to go to the front of the line. The theme park characters all knew about the button. All they had to do was see it and they would go out of their way to make sure this was a special trip.”

“I have had the opportunity to be involved with several Magic Moments fundraisers. My favorite is one that was just completed. I agreed to be the Magic Maker for a young girl. Knowing that Magic Moments had to cancel its fundraisers in 2020 due to COVID-19, I thought about raising the money for this wish. I approached a group of young engineers that I work with and asked them if they would consider holding a fundraiser and shared with them about Magic Moments and told them about my son’s wish, who happens to now be one of the young engineers. They were very eager to get involved. They reached out to the many contractors and vendors that we deal with and asked for prize donations. After the prizes were secured, they sold raffle tickets for a chance to win the prizes. The fundraiser was successful with more than enough funds being raised to grant Cay’Reese’s magic moment.”