A tale of two charities.
Part of the job as an anchor… or part of my job as a human being? When I’m asked to give my time to participate in a fundraiser for a worthy cause, that’s the main question I ask myself. The reason I rarely say no to a request to help is that answer to it is of course “both”. It really doesn’t make a hoot of a difference what you do for a living. All of us human beings can be leaders on this earth, quite capable of changing and restoring lives with our time and/or helping hands.
The second question I always ask is, “Will my presence possibly result in one more dollar being raised?” Again, the answer is always “yes”. This week is a great example of that. I helped out at four events this week… The Salvation Army, Dress for Success, Chips for Children, and The Arc of San Antonio. Each of these are worthy endeavors… all of them needy of our involvement and donations. Two of them though, show the difference their ability to do so may lie in who steps up.
Dress for Success is a multi-faceted organization that is struggling to survive in a changing environment. It clothes women trying to transition out of troubled lives into working women capable of supporting their families. But it doesn’t stop there. It counsels them, offers them head to toe makeovers, and coaches them on the hurdles they must take on to succeed with their new suit… the job interview, child care, employee reviews, etc… I was there for the grand opening at Dress for Success years ago. Last week I was there for their first luncheon and fashion show. It’s a new effort to raise cash so they can survive a move from Crossroads Mall to the Haven for Hope area. Clothes are nice, but they need cash now to survive and continue helping disenfranchised women in Bexar County break the cycle of poverty. Their ability to do so will be reflected in the eyes of their children, who hopefully will grow up never needing Dress for Success.
Now the flip side of the coin. The Arc of San Antonio, an organization that helps support mentally disabled children, adults and their families, is forging into territory that few non-profits can ever hope to reach. Saturday night we raised more than $260,000. That’s right folks.. in one night more a quarter of a million dollars. Shock and awe filled the room. How was it done? People like Gordon Hartman, who has a disabled daughter himself, learned about the group and he stepped up bigtime a few years ago. He then invited in the business community to help, and they did. Folks like Martie and Dennis Noll of KCI are among them. Although they have no developmentally disabled children, they stepped in.. bigtime. Their contributions of time and funding to The Arc, as well as other unique and thoughtful non-profits like the Miracle Foundation, have transformed these organizations from fledgling and struggling… to standard bearing.
Next time you’re asked to help in a fundraiser, ask the questions that need to be asked, and answer them honestly as a member of the human race, and as an inhabitant of the same earth as those who are likely to be helped. I try to, and invite you to do the same.
April 10, 2008 at 3:52 pm
IMO you are a caring person and an excellent newscaster – in that order. We can, and should, change the world on whatever scale we are capable of: one person at a time or one event at a time.