Archive

April 2017

Browsing

800….who would of thought?

In 2011, I had a dream. A dream to tell the stories of people who inspire me, who make our world better each and everyday and who are truly unsung heroes…non-profit founders. This dream, woke me up in the middle of the night and was so real that I wrote it all down. That dream became Charity Matters.

No matter what has been happening in my life, good or bad, I have not given up on that dream. I interview, I write and I search for these people and their organizations out in every spare minute I have. A strange hobby perhaps, but it has become my mission, a daily reminder of gratitude, perseverance, the joy of giving and my purpose.

As Leo Rosten said,”I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. I think that the purpose of life is to be useful, responsible, to be compassionate. It is, above all to matter, to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all.”

So today, I take a small pause to recognize the 800th post and to thank you for being here with me along for the ride. I am beyond grateful for each of you, your friendship, loyalty and generosity in sharing these posts and spreading the word that Charity Matters.

 

 

 

Copyright © 2017 Charity Matters. This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this in your newsreader, the site you are viewing is illegally infringing our copyright. We would be grateful if you contact us.

To persevere…

 “When you have a great and difficult task, something perhaps almost impossible, if you only work a little at a time, every day a little, suddenly the work will finish itself.”

Isak Dinesen

Years ago when a group of friends and I set out to create a nonprofit to provide chaplains at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, we did so with the singular goal that if we just helped one child then we would have been successful. Our motto was and is, “One spirit, one soul, one child at a time.”  The goal was huge and yet small and realistic. 

There were so many things that made our goal achievable and yet there was one characteristic that was critical to our success and that was perseverance.  We refused to give up until we had accomplished our goal. A trait I am confident that every nonprofit founder would agree is necessary to create change.

This week Charity Matters has another milestone and because I am a big believer in celebrating each step along the journey, we will celebrate this one on Thursday. In looking back, it is clear that perseverance, tenacity and simply putting one step in front of another…is what moves us forward. Sometimes slowly, but eventually we get there and that is worth acknowledging.

Charity Matters.

Copyright © 2017 Charity Matters. This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this in your newsreader, the site you are viewing is illegally infringing our copyright. We would be grateful if you contact us.

If Nuns Ruled the World….

I was at the bookstore recently and came across a book entitled, If Nuns Ruled The World. I thumbed through it because I have an aunt I adore, who is a Sister of the Holy Child. Like most nuns that I have met, my aunt is an exceptional human being. Intrigued by the book title, I flipped through the pages and found ten nuns who were profiled for having done extraordinary things and one in particular caught my eye. Her name is Sr. Tesa Fitzgerald.

Tesa Fitzgerald was born into an Irish Catholic family on Long Island and surprised them all when she entered the convent after graduating from high school. Sr. Tesa worked in Catholic schools as a teacher and ultimately a principal, until her life had a change of direction.

Another nun, Sister Elaine Roulet, had created a program that helped incarcerated women to stay with their newborn children until they were at least one year old. Sister Elaine reached out for help with the problem.

Learning that there are approximately 150,000 women incarcerated nationwide, Sister Tesa wondered what happened to these women’s’ children? So, in 1985 Sister Tesa answered Sister Elaine’s prayer by becoming a foster parent and turned a convent into a home for six children, with the goal of maintaining the bond between mothers in prison and their children.

In 1992, she created Hour Children as a nonprofit to offer supportive services to other children of incarcerated mothers and to the mothers themselves. She named it to reflect the hour of the mother’s arrest, the hour visit allowed to the children and the hour of her release.

Today, Hour Children oversees three apartment buildings, three thrift stores, a day care center, an after school program, a group home, a food program, a mentoring program and four communal homes, all while continuing to work with women during their incarceration. Sister Tesa has been recognized by the White House, received the Opus Prize and of course was featured in the book, If Nuns Ruled the World……which just makes me wonder what our world would be like?

Charity Matters.

 

Copyright © 2017 Charity Matters. This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this in your newsreader, the site you are viewing is illegally infringing our copyright. We would be grateful if you contact us.

 

Happiness

“Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.”

Booker T. Washington 

This past weekend I went to Arizona to visit my aunt who just turned 80. She is a pistol, looks 60ish, still works, has four grown children, a handful of grandchildren, a boyfriend she adores and is full of life. On our drive home, my dad, my sister and I discussed that my aunt would probably live forever because her zest for life is simply contagious and she is so happy.

The topic of happiness got me thinking, so as I reflected upon my weekend and we all begin a new week, I thought I would channel my aunt and that this might just make you smile and perhaps even happy….

As we begin this new week, think about what makes you happy and make sure to spend some time doing more of whatever that is…..

 

Charity Matters.

 

Copyright © 2017 Charity Matters. This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this in your newsreader, the site you are viewing is illegally infringing our copyright. We would be grateful if you contact us.

Everyone loves a good story…

Let’s face it, we all love hearing a good story. Last week I attended a fantastic seminar on story telling. I questioned whether I should go or not, because being Irish, I felt that I had a bit of an advantage over most of the attendees….just sayin. However, I went to learn how to perfect the art of story telling, knowing that there is always room for improvement.

The seminar was specifically designed for non-profits to learn how to tell their stories, although it really applies to everyone…whether you are telling your own story or your businesses. Being a storyteller, I was fascinated. Our leader, Andy Goodman of the Goodman Center, told us,” that the story is the most powerful tool we have.” and I couldn’t agree more.

The reason is because stories help us to connect to something bigger, engage us in common emotions, and most importantly put us in touch with our humanity. The story below, is one example that Andy shared, which brought us all to tears…so get the kleenex.

You might ask, why am I sharing this? The reason is simple, each week when I tell the story of a non-profit founder’s journey, you are moved, inspired and uplifted. As long as you are connected, then I have told the story properly. That is the power of story telling and of being Irish……

Charity Matters.

P.S. Only story tellers like the Goodman Center would want to tell my story, so if you want another story here it is…

 

Copyright © 2017 Charity Matters. This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this in your newsreader, the site you are viewing is illegally infringing our copyright. We would be grateful if you contact us.

Attention

Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.”

—Simone W

A question that I am often is asked is, “What do you think is the most important thing to give to a cause you care about?”

My answer: Your time and attention.

Truly these are your greatest gifts. In our insane world, with information coming at us all at a rapid pace, it is easy to ignore what or who is in front of you. It is much harder to put down your device and give the gift of your undivided attention.

When we focus what truly matters to us, it is that gift of attention that is the rarest and purest form of generosity.

Charity Matters.

Copyright © 2017 Charity Matters. This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this in your newsreader, the site you are viewing is illegally infringing our copyright. We would be grateful if you contact us.

Cell Phones for Soldiers

 

As many of you know I run a non-profit youth leadership organization as my day job. One of the things I love the most about my job is having the privileged position to inspire thousands of middle school students each year by teaching them how to serve others. In order to do that effectively, we look for non-profit partnerships with amazing causes. This year we partnered with a remarkable organization called Cell Phones for Soldiers, that was started by two kids, brother and sister, Rob and Brittany Berquist in 2004.

These two heard about a soldier with an $8,000 cell phone bill and decided that just wasn’t right. What these two siblings did next was even more surprising and the most inspiring story to inspire thousands of today’s kids.

Rob, who is now 27 ,and still runs Cell Phones for Soldiers has continued his mission to ensure that no military service person should ever have to pay to call home.  Today, his sister Brittany works in marketing for the Kind Company. To date Cell Phones for Soldiers has donated over 300 million minutes in free talk time, recycled more than 15 million cell phones and still mails about 1,500 calling cards to service men and women around the globe per week.

This past January, Robbie and Brittany were honored by Forbes Magazine in their 30 under 30 issue for their incredible, vision, service and mission.  What began simply because a brother and a sister saw an injustice and wanted to right a wrong, turned into something, so very right.

 

Charity Matters.

 

Copyright © 2017 Charity Matters. This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this in your newsreader, the site you are viewing is illegally infringing our copyright. We would be grateful if you contact us.

Thousands of candles can be lit from a single flame….

“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”

Buddha

I am constantly inspired of how goodness creates more goodness.

The past eight weeks I have been in the privileged position of working with thousands of middle school students to teach them about service. This year our organization talked to our students about an amazing non-profit called Cell Phone for Soldiers, that was started by two teenagers in 2004……you all will hear their story on Wednesday.

What was magical, was sharing a real life story about two kids who made a difference and how quickly, their story inspired thousands to do the same. Goodness does create goodness and thousands of candles can be lit from a single flame.

Charity Matters.

Copyright © 2017 Charity Matters. This article may not be reproduced without explicit written permission; if you are not reading this in your newsreader, the site you are viewing is illegally infringing our copyright. We would be grateful if you contact us.