He sat at his desk day after day, as weeks turned into months and months to years, doing what many call "numbers crunching." Along with his staff, he analyzed spread sheets and reconciled financial statements, helping his clients understand the bottom line. He did this sometimes-tedious work all to the backdrop of laughter, as he watched kids bouncing balls, and jumping rope. At the time, Jeff Echelmeier, Williams-Keepers CPA owner, didn't know what was going on across the street from his office; all he knew was that he liked what he saw and heard as he looked out the window.
"It was always fun for me to see dozens of young children playing in the yard across the street from my office. I loved hearing the laughter and seeing the fun they were having jumping rope, playing kickball, or tossing a football"
For Jeff, the goings-on across the street provided some "terrific background noise," a happy distraction from the, all-too-often, tedious work of accountancy. It wasn't until he was talking to a friend who was helping organize the annual "Golfing for Granny" fundraiser earlier this year that he realized that this was the very group he'd been watching from his office window watching for years.
While gazing out the window, Jeff sometimes observed neighborhood children who were, obviously, growing up in difficult situations. It always gladdened him to know that the kids he watched day after day "had some fun and laughter in their day when they arrived at Granny's House."
Not long after that discovery, the Williams-Keepers Tax Department sprang into action and organized a silent auction to raise funds for Granny's House. A football signed by some of the MU Tigers, rounds of golf at various Mid-Missouri golf courses, a gift basket full of goodies, and a private airplane ride over Mid-Missouri were some of the items the Williams-Keepers staff bid on and purchased, raising nearly a thousand dollars for Granny's House.
We never imagined that our "background noise" could be so productive!
-Granny Pam
