Ginger Tilton-Heise - Co-Founder of The Lance Tilton Foundation

Photo: VNC Freelance

Lance Tilton Foundati

A daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a sales consultant and a Co-Founder of The Lance Tilton Foundation, these things are all apart of what make Ginger Tilton-Heise who she is. Her days begin between 5-6 a.m. and end pretty late…her off days are during the week, therefore working when the rest of us are playing; and yet she’ll work even harder if this means that her dreams for The Lance Tilton Foundation can come to fruition. She is rather successful at what she does in the Dallas/ Fortworth area of Texas. The hard work she puts into her job as a Sales Consultant with Bud Bartley Homes/Stillbrooke Homes affords her the time and resources to volunteer with the foundation she helped found in June of last year.

It is this that she is most passionate about, and what she wants to speak of more than anything else.

The Foundation was the brain child of her brother, Troy Tilton. On the evening of Lance's memorial service at the Tin Roof Cantina in North Atlanta, surrounded by 150+ friends and family of the popular drummer, Troy informed his older sister of his desire and design to start a foundation to honor their baby brother who had left this Earth way too soon. And just like that, the Lance Tilton Foundation was formed; if only in theory and in name, because it was far from being a reality at that point.

After laying her brother to rest, Ginger began researching grant opportunities and looking up causes that could use their help. At this juncture in the process, Ginger was simply helping out her brother in getting his idea off of the ground, she had no formal plans of being engrossed in the everyday running of the Foundation, but that is exactly what happened. And she, along with the other members of the Board are volunteering as much free time as they can to making this Foundation a National Organization.

Of course, the process from idea to reality does not usually come around without difficulty, and The LTF have had their own struggles. From finding a cause that would speak to the commitment and love that Lance actually displayed for music and kids and life everywhere he went; to the legal work and getting their website up and running. The whole thing was and is a major act of Love and Devotion.

The first idea was to fund a music program at an underfunded Atlanta area school. So Ginger began calling Atlanta area school districts to see how much it would cost to do so, and after receiving no answer from multiple requests, one finally answered her query. The news wasn't good. Besides just paying for the teachers, the music, and the instruments, liability insurance would have to be accounted for and so this idea was scratched.

An almost fluke call to Justin Nihiser, the General manager of Atlanta’s School of Rock, landed Ginger with the idea she and the neophyte foundation needed…a cause that they could fund and help with. To fund students in need with free music lessons, and maybe even the instruments as well.

With their cause in hand the next step was to get a website up and running…and to get their Foundation recognized as a Nonprofit 501(c )(3).

Amazing as it may seem, but these two steps were and are being handled pro-bono by individuals and companies who believe in this cause. Just as is the case in so many instances it is the moment that one begins putting their money (and in this case their time and energy) where their mouth is, other things begin falling into place and things got done.

So, how does this all tie together? How does one put this into perspective with a Blog dedicated to helping others find out tidbits about interesting and different careers?

Easy.

Ginger Tilton-Heise and all of the Foundation Board Members, embarked on a road of discovery that outweighed their own knowledge through their careers. Ginger works as a consultant to those wishing to buy custom built homes. Her degree from Regis University in Denver, Colorado was in Health Information Management. Besides having to write tons of papers then and now, there’s no direct …nor even an indirect link between her college education, her career or her Foundation.

She has leaned and called on countless friends and family members for emotional support and professional help. In her own words “It Took a Village” to build this Foundation.

And so it has. A friend of her’s taught her Quick Books so that she could be of greater use and help to the Foundation's Fundraising effort. Then there are 56 musicians who have pledged their support of the Foundation in one way or another, led by Lance’s former Bandmates Ben Deignan and Chris Price who are VP and Executive Director respectively of the Foundation. The website took 103+ man-hours to build by Kristi Eakin Designs; Countless hours have been devoted by Hunton & Williams LLP in order to get the Foundation their proper legal status. Then there's the work done by the board members who are all dedicated to volunteering their time to this cause. I’ve mentioned before the CD and concert that they are working diligently to put together.

This has all been a labor of love in one way or another and each of us has similar resources….most we don’t even know about, in order to do the same.

Ginger stepped into each of her adventures full tilt looking and aiming to be the best that she could be at each step of the way, and by no mere coincidence, she has been successful at each of these endeavors. She enjoys keeping busy, and when asked what advice she’d give teens, she said two simple words, “work hard”.

The LTF Boardmembers Photo: VNC Freelance

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