Hodge a 'fun'-raiser for nonprofit

Al Hodge enjoys fundraising, and is currently chairing Once Upon a Time, a Sept. 17 cocktails-and-hors d’oeuvres party that benefits United Cerebral Palsy.
Al Hodge enjoys fundraising, and is currently chairing Once Upon a Time, a Sept. 17 cocktails-and-hors d’oeuvres party that benefits United Cerebral Palsy.

Most people detest asking for money. Al Hodge doesn't mind.

"I like fundraising," says the executive vice president for Arkansas Capital Corporation Group. It's an important part of his job leading a nonprofit that helps Arkansas businesses -- everything from the Big River Steel project "all the way down to the bakery on Main Street in any little town" -- secure loans.

But fundraising is also an important part of his volunteer job, chairing the fourth annual Once Upon a Time event for United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) of Arkansas. Each day UCP helps more than 500 Arkansans with cerebral palsy and other disabilities.

"At my age and after everything I've seen and done, I'm not afraid to call people and tell them why they should donate ... and the more well-off you are, the larger the contribution I'm going to ask for," Hodge says.

For Hodge, "everything I've done" includes donating a kidney to his brother 15 years ago. Now he tells people, "It's a lot easier to write a check than to donate a kidney."

Actually, Hodge didn't find it difficult to part with his organ. "God gave you two kidneys. You can live with one kidney ... it's not going to affect your life, so why not do it?" he says.

This is Hodge's third year to work with Once Upon a Time, a cocktails-and-hors d'oeuvres party that includes auctions and music. It's his first time to be the event's sole chairman who's responsible for soliciting monetary and auction donations.

This year he hopes attendance will top 200, up from 150 last year, when the event was held at the Governor's Mansion. The new location, the Little Rock Marriott's ballroom, offers more space.

But even if it breaks 250, Hodge says, the event could be a flop. The attendees need to be the sort "who are going to participate in the auction ... and get a good product in return for their donation," he says.

Some of those "products" include a week in a Costa Rican villa, trips to Branson, Disney World and Hot Springs and local birthday party packages. There is also a diamond and platinum necklace appraised at $19,800. But in the past, some of the most beloved auction items have been of lesser financial value.

Last year, Tracy Courage bid on a dollhouse built by UCP client Jason Mason. The piece is obviously constructed by hand, with rooms painted in sherbet colors, a chandelier made from plastic pearls, foil-covered kitchen appliances and a "cottage style" roof tiled with Popsicle sticks.

On Christmas morning, it found a place under her tree -- a gift for Madison Courage, then 9. Madison had grown skeptical about Santa Claus, but this dollhouse puzzled her. She peered into the small rooms and touched the miniature paintings on the wall and told her mother, "I've never seen one like this before." The dollhouse couldn't have come from a big box store. In fact, it really couldn't have come from anywhere but the North Pole, she decided.

Courage credits Once Upon a Time with suspending her daughter's disbelief for one more, precious holiday.

This year, Mason will make another dollhouse, as well as several log cabin birdhouses.

Hodge enjoys seeing UCP's adult clients at Once Upon a Time. One of his favorite stories is that of Jessica Jones, 27, who attends every year. In 2006, after graduating from high school, Jones moved from the small town of Wynne into a 15-resident UCP group home in Little Rock. Jones, who has cerebral palsy, worked for UCP in the on-campus shop and later, in human resources. Now she greets at Wal-Mart while earning a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

"I'm going to be a licensed professional counselor," she says. "I want to work with people with disabilities. I've never really seen counselors that specialize in that population, so why not me?"

She volunteers at the event to increase visibility of disabled people -- "Just to let people see that I'm a real person, and I communicate and have fun with them and everything," Jones says.

Accessibility to education is a big motivator for Hodge, who is particularly interested in the Butterfly Learning Center, a preschool program serving more than 80 infants and kids of all abilities. Many students receive occupational, speech or physical therapy, and the playground is wheelchair-friendly.

His voice often takes on the zeal and cadence of a motivational speaker, simultaneously soothing and passionate. It's easy to picture him charming checkbooks out of purses and pockets.

United Cerebral Palsy of Arkansas was begun in 1957 -- coincidentally, the same year as Arkansas Capital Corporation Group -- by the parents of five children with cerebral palsy who saw that development and education were easier to manage together than alone.

Now, more than half of its clients have disabilities other than cerebral palsy. It has two adult centers, a preschool and a group home and offers nursing and therapy for children and adults. UCP Enterprises employs 39 disabled adults, including disabled veterans, at a printer and cartridge recycling facility, a high security paper-shredding facility, a button-making operation and a bulk-mailing facility. Each year, CP Buttons stuffs around 65,000 Boo at the Zoo candy bags.

Hodge is a new appointee to the United Cerebral Palsy board and hopes his business expertise will be useful with UCP Enterprises.

"God put us on this earth for a reason, and it's to help each other," he says.

Jones says UCP means "everything" to her. "They gave me a real job. They made me feel like a part of the team. I was never treated differently because I'm in a wheelchair, and that's all I've ever wanted."

Once Upon a Time is 6-9 p.m. Sept. 17 at the Little Rock Marriott at Statehouse Plaza. Tickets are $125 each and tables for $10 are $1,250. They can be bought at tinyurl.com/p7af2yl.

High Profile on 09/06/2015

Upcoming Events