"When I was chosen as Tennessee's Small Business Person of the Year and represented our state in Washington D.C.  I asked myself many times why out of all the businesses and entrepreneurs, in our great state, they would pick me.  I realized that it was because of the people that worked with me and the character that they brought to my company.  As an employer, I have witnessed how a lack of character can destroy our bottom line but more importantly peoples lives.  Many of the young employees that we hire come from broken homes or have not had the proper character training.  I know this is a wide-spread problem and discussing it has been enthusiastically accepted wherever I have been.  I am committed to helping get the message out, not only for my future, but for those who will come after me."

                                                      --Patrick Stella, President, Fire Sprinkler of Nashville
                                                       July 2003

"I have been involved with CHARACTER COUNTS! Nashville for almost two years.  I became involved when a fellow member of the Sales and Marketing Executives of Nashville discussed the program at one of our board meetings.  I immediately saw the value in the organization and asked how I could participate in it.  I was fortunate to become a part of the Steering Committee.  Several things have impressed me about CHARACTER COUNTS! Nashville.  The first is the stature of those involved.  Obviously, some of the most prominent people in Nashville, are involved, more important is the actual passion, dedication, and character of those involved.  Many have taken the time to be trained as spokespeople for CHARACTER COUNTS! Nashville.  David Lipscomb University donates their facilities and other resources.  People work together on teams to find solutions.  Almost every Steering Team member attends every meeting or event.  The people involved will make this program a success.  Secondly, I admire the consistency of the program.  In a time when integrity seems to be a situational thing, CHARACTER COUNTS! Nashville consistently prompts a framework for good decision-making.  It doesn't identify what is right or wrong, but it presents a consistent decision-making model for the evaluations of every situation.  In a program-of-the-month society, CHARACTER COUNTS! Nashville is a program for life.  I am starting to see the difference CHARACTER COUNTS! Nashville makes.  We are just starting and the opportunity is enormous.  CHARACTER COUNTS! Nashville will succeed because of the program, the people, and the value it adds to our community."

                                                 --Kent Rosenbury, Business Consultant, Volunteer
                                                   July 2003

"I first became familiar with CHARACTER COUNTS! through a friend who is a trainer in my hometown.  All over her office she has posters and "stuff" which talked about the Six Pillars of Character.  She is excited about the program and readily uses the "Six Pillars" in everything from her voice mail messages to her business cards.  Talking with her I knew it had to be a great program and one much needed in our community.  So much of what we see and hear on the news today has to do with the lack of character and understanding of just how much in control one is of his/her own integrity and how much integrity has to do with success.  Then I met Mary Morris at Kiwanis and learned that several of the people that I have come to respect and admire here in Nashville had started CHARACTER COUNTS! Nashville and without really giving it much thought, I volunteered to be a trainer.  WOW!  I don't think that I really understood then what an opportunity to help to be part of a change would actually be.  No longer can I stand looking in from the outside wishing things were different.  The real impact of just how much the program can benefit our community became clear to me on my first real opportunity to practice the training we had received.  Several trainers were involved in presenting the "Six Pillars" to the Woodbine Community Center day program this summer.  I chose "Respect" because I see such a lack of this pillar in every day life.  Sitting across from about 30 extremely active children, some of whom didn't even speak English, and several of which I could barely hear or understand, was a little intimidating at first.  Then when I asked who knew the "Six Pillars" and could recite them, smiles broke out, hands went up, and one by one I listened while those precocious little ones quoted, what I struggle sometimes to remember, in the correct order.  What was even more remarkable was that, they actually understood the concepts.  My fear soon departed and they told me about "Respect" that day.  I recently heard a well-known preacher say that character and virginity are the only two things that are uniquely ours, and uniquely ours to lose.  I really believe that without the CHARACTER COUNTS! programs many young people will not understand what character is and therefore yield it much too easily when faced with life's challenges.

                                                 --Jane Reyonlds Edwards, TMS Sales Manager, Middle TN
                                                   July 2003

"CHARACTER COUNTS! Nashville is an innovative initiative that is having positive impact upon the Nashville community.  As an At-Large member of the Metro Council, I see the need for the Six Pillars of Character to become central to the operation of our local government.  Daily we hear concerns regarding the need for more accountability of governmental entities.  Adherence to the CHARACTER COUNTS! model will assist in resolving some of those concerns.  Through a proclamation in April of 2002, the Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County embraced the principles of trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.  I trust that the practice of the principles of CHARACTER COUNTS! will become an integral part of the culture of our city.  Through the work of the Center for Character Development, Nashville has been a recipient of the program that will benefit all of Nashville.  When we are able to spread the message throughout the county regarding the benefits of implementing CHARACTER COUNTS! we will begin to see the fruits of the efforts as the principles of character are practiced daily and become a part of the Nashville tradition.

                                            --Dr. Carolyn Baldwin Tucker, Council Lady At-Large,
                                              Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County
                                             July 2003