Without question, 2020 was a tough year for many, but The Larry H. Miller Group of Companies has been able to endure, innovate, and thrive in spite of the challenges. As we began to take stock of things approaching the holiday season, leaders within the organization and the Miller family realized that a lot of the traditional events and activities surrounding the holidays would be cancelled.
Seeing an opportunity for us to give back and share our resources with the community, we launched Driven to Celebrate, a month-long holiday festival. The goal was to provide a safe way for families to experience the holidays by offering free movies, exclusive virtual concert performances, an outdoor winter wonderland, food and toy drives, as well as lots of lights and holiday cheer.
Perhaps the most important aspect of Driven to Celebrate was the food and toy drive. People from the community donated 5,957 pounds of food, which provides 4,964 meals for those in need. Gail Miller donated enough money to provide 844,900 meals while Greg and Heidi Miller donated enough to provide 414,167 meals.
Megaplex Theatres provided free holiday movies to families who participated in the food drive, with two movies available each week throughout December. At Vivint Arena, people were treated to a spectacular sight as the building exterior and main plaza were transformed nightly into a Winter Wonderland. Guests could enjoy a walk through a 40-foot canopy of lights for an immersive visual experience. The arena also hosted the annual Festival of Trees, a Utah tradition that was reimagined in 2020 as a virtual experience.
We also encouraged other businesses and organizations to participate in spreading cheer with the Light Up December campaign—a fun way to bring more seasonal lights to the community in way that showed unity and community strength. Lights weren’t the only thing we shared, as we also hosted several free concerts filled with holiday music. Performers included Brad Paisley, The National Parks, Jon Schmidt from The Piano Guys, Calvary Baptist Church Choir, The Choristers of the Madeleine Choir School, Thurl Bailey, Kurt Bestor, Mat and Savanna, and more.
The community responded well to our efforts, and the holiday feeling was strong throughout December. 2020 may have been a hard year for a lot of people, but our commitment to enriching lives helped in a small way to make it better.
