Did you know that it is the mission of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services to help individuals and families in need help themselves lead safer, healthier, more independent and productive lives?  At The Beach Cares knows!  The At The Beach Cares team is proud of the work this organization does and considers our involvement with this organization through events like the Foster Kid appreciation event a special blessing for At The Beach Cares and At The Beach Tanning superstores.

OKDHS Director Howard Hendrick announced his retirement plans today after 13 and half years in that position.  During his tenure so many things changed, for the better, from the stars childcare accreditation program, to partnerships with food banks to address hunger issues, to work creating swift adoptions.  Did you know that 160,000 children have been adopted in Oklahoma while Mr. Hendrick has been Director of OKDHS?  At The Beach Cares knows and is impressed with his hard work.

In an email he sent to the entire OKDHS today Mr. Hendrick included the following heartfelt thanks “I am extremely grateful for the privilege I have been given to lead OKDHS.  I need to thank all of the wonderful Commissioners who have served over the last 13 and half years.  You were paid nothing and spent hundreds of hours of public service each at significant personal and professional expense.  Thank you.  I love you and have so enjoyed our time together.
To the dozens of officers and executives who make this organization work, I will have extremely fond memories of 90 day reviews, executive team meetings, Christmas lunches, conference presentations, budget meetings and the “drop in” visits we have had with each other.  I will remember the times we played at the state games, laughed together, prayed together and the solemnness of attending a memorial service for a fellow worker or friend.  Thank you.  You have made my life rich and I am forever grateful.
I owe a special thanks to Cheryl Willie, my personal assistant of more than 20 years.  Cheryl was my assistant at the Senate before coming to OKDHS.  She retired from OKDHS last year.  We have laughed through weddings and ball games and cried through the pains of parenting and family losses.  When either of us cry, the other tastes the salt.  Everyone should have a few “perfect friends.”

To my family, I simply say thanks.  It does not take long to live a lifetime.  I remember a reception to which I brought my family when I first came to the Department.  Hudson was four years old.  Today, he’s a senior in high school.  My oldest daughter was in high school, playing highly competitive softball – which she did throughout college.  Today, she’s the mother of my three grandchildren.  The middle girls were in elementary school.  Today, they are both in college – one at OU, where I went to graduate school and one at OSU (my orange and black sheep).  To my wife, Tracy, thank you for letting me be late to dinner and understanding when I needed to leave town.  I’ll try to get the yard fixed better this year.  I love you and thank you for being a great mom to our children.”

At The Beach Cares is moved by this sincere statement of gratitude.