FamilyFoundationBlog.com

All of us at The Family Foundation of Virginia hope that you will spend time with your loved ones and friends this Thanksgiving. It’s a wonderful opportunity for us to reflect on the abundance of grace and mercy that is poured out on each of us each year by our loving God.

In the many battles we face, and in a culture where our values seem to be slipping away, it is often difficult to find joy and thankfulness. Yet, we are incredibly blessed in so many ways. Simply being alive, having the opportunity to serve our God, to live in a land that is free — still — and having family and friends to love are just some of the things we too often take for granted.

This year, we at The Family Foundation have much for which to be thankful. While many will first think of the recent elections where pro-family candidates were victorious, our gratitude goes far beyond those results. For one, we can never express enough how thankful we are for our supporters. This year, despite the difficult economy, donors to The Family Foundation helped make Winning Matters an unquestioned success. Add to that the nearly 1,300 people who attended our Annual Gala with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, and we can truly say that God supplied for our needs in remarkable ways in 2009.

We also are extremely thankful for our army of volunteers, both those who guide or work through our local grassroots networks, and those who help us here in the office or at various events. Incredibly, volunteers sacrificially gave more than 1,000 hours of their time in our headquarters this year! From stuffing envelopes for mailings, helping distribute nearly 900,000 Voter Guides, to making thousands of phone calls, the help given by these volunteers can simply not be measured. We could not have had a successful Winning Matters campaign, nor Gala, without these selfless individuals. The Family Foundation — Board and staff — offer our collective heartfelt thanks.

We also are thankful for the challenges God places in our path. It is only through those hard times that we truly place our trust in Him and mature in our faith. Together, we face many challenges — culturally and politically. But it is for just this time that God has placed us in this Commonwealth. He chose us to be here to fight for our liberties when they are in peril. That is an honor for which we can truly be thankful.

Again, we thank you for your support of The Family Foundation. May God bless you abundantly this Thanksgiving!

We’re all excited that our big day is here: The Annual Family Foundation of Virginia Gala with keynote speaker Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate, and current host of the hit Fox News Channel program Huckabee. Although there are opportunities to live blog from the event and other activities, such as the press availability with Governor Huckabee this afternoon, we’re going to take in the sights and sounds and report to you tomorrow and throughout the rest of the week.

The Gala will be a memorable event, to say the least. In addition to what will be a dynamite presentation by Governor Huckabee, other speakers and performers, a near capacity crowd of 1,300 people in attendance (doubling last year) will guarantee a unique experience of camaraderie and fellowship. The good news is, you can still attend! Although online registration closed at 1:00 p.m. today, some tickets are still available at the door at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.

Doors to the ballroom will open at 6:30 p.m., but with the large crowd we encourage you to arrive early to have time to find parking and make it to the ballroom. The event will begin promptly at 7:00 p.m.

The reception for full table sponsors will begin at 5:30 p.m. Because of the large crowd and photo line with Governor Huckabee please plan to arrive at the reception promptly. Looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones. Anyone who wants to meet yours truly, please ask the staff. I’ll be around. Looking forward to bringing to everyone reviews and thoughts over the next few days.

Here’s the first of some videos we will sample for you of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, a former presidential candidate and current host of the hit cable television show, Huckabee, on Fox News Channel, who is our keynote speaker at The Family Foundation of Virginia’s 2009 Annual Gala. Here, the former governor, as a candidate for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, spoke at “Georgia For Life 2008″ that January on the steps of the state capitol in Atlanta.

Lincoln said, “If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.” If abortion is not wrong, certainly nothing is, or ever will be, wrong.

A big thank you to each and every one of the 600-plus who attended our Annual Gala last night: attendees, sponsors, volunteers, speakers, perfomers . . . everyone. You all have our sincerest, most heartfelt gratitude for all that you did to make last night a great success!

We made it known that Phill Kline was not to be missed and he did not disappoint. There wasn’t one person in the Greater Richmond Convention Center last night who wasn’t genuinely inspired with his message of putting principle over politics, of what true leadership is, of allowing ourselves to be intolerant of injustice, especially injustice to the innocent-unborn; and the real characteristics of the in-fashion word “hope” (hint: you can’t have hope without faith because hope is an expectation of something good yet to come, which is . . . faith).

For those not able to attend as well as who did and want to re-live the event, please return here next week and beyond: We hope to post pictures from the Gala and video of Mr. Kline’s speech. We also hope to have more on yesterday’s news conference at which Mr. Kline also attended.

Despite what many consider down times in Virginia (and America) for conservatism and traditional, Christian values in the public realm, last night’s overwhelming outpouring of support, enthusiam and dedication to cause proves that our philosophy of limited government, liberty and protection of the family still resonates and thrives.

We sincerely cannot thank adequately enough all of you great Virginians who continue to support The Family Foundation of Virginia throughout the year with your time, financial contributions, counsel, steadfast encouragement in good times and bad, and for all manners of support you provide. Most of all, we deeply appreciate your constant prayers for us and our mission. Please know we reciprocate those prayers to all of you.