Charity Matters Inspiration Archives - Page 29 of 37

Charity Matters Inspiration June 8, 2015

Every rose has its thorn

Today I am sitting in the front row of my alma mater’s graduation ceremony. It is an all girls school and the ceremony is filled with tradition, ceremony, white gowns and could be confused as a debutante ball to a casual observer. In all the pomp and circumstance, I find myself tuning out the speeches and looking at the beautiful roses sitting in every graduates lap.

Their roses do not have any thorns, but as I reflect back decades ago when I too sat on that stage, I was nothing more than a thorny rose. Sure, I was young and full of energy but the reality is that what was within was still thorny. The irony is that as I look at the fresh-faced beauties in their white gowns gazing blindly into their futures, it is only now that I realize their true beauty is yet to come.

What they don’t realize is that their lives are like the roses in their laps, de-thorned, closed buds that are full of fragrance and possibility. Where does the real beauty begin? How does the rose lose its thorn and open?

The answer I believe comes with each act of grace and kindness. It is the moments of a life that open the bud. Each moment a gift of growth and which slowly opens the flower. Over time the petals burst to full-bloom, the fragrance heavenly and the inner beauty abounds, unleashed for all.

As I sit here, smiling and watching, each girl takes her roses, grabs their petals and throws them up into the wind… all the petals blow away, as each bud awaits its turn to open.

Charity Matters.

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Cancer May 29, 2015

Without words

I have to say that in almost four years of blogging, I have rarely been at a loss for words. I sat down to write the other day and there just wasn’t anything there. I mentioned this challenge at our family dinner table and my sons said, “You don’t have to write Mom, its ok if you take one day off.” A thought that truly had never occurred to me.

I had resigned myself to the fact that with two graduations next week and a very full plate at work, I would take today off. However, the universe had different plans, no sooner had I made that decision, when a friend sent me this video…which of course I needed to share with you.

Tired or not, seeing compassion in action, simply never gets old. It is moments like these that inspire me to do more, give more and use my time showing the world that it is actions not words, that really matter.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration May 25, 2015

A Widow’s Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a day to remember and honor those who have served and sacrificed for our country. No one understands this more than a military spouse. The other day when I saw this piece on CBS News This Morning, I knew I needed to share. It is a letter from Taya Kyle, Chris Kyle’s widow, to herself. To me this puts Memorial Day in perspective and I hope it does the same for you.

Today, think about all of those service men, service women and their families who give so much to each of us.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration May 20, 2015

Just Think

This past weekend I was up in Northern California for a board retreat. We were in the beautiful hills of Los Altos and it was a time to reflect, slow down the pace and “just think.”

As I pondered the takeaways of the weekend, I recalled a story that Bill Gates Sr. shared at a different board retreat a few years back. He was asked the question, “Was there any early indicator that your son (Bill Gates Jr.) was destined for great success?” Bill Sr. thought for a moment and shared a story about his teenage son.

He told the crowd that their family had loaded up the station wagon with children, pets and the like to head out-of-town to ski for the weekend. No one could find Bill Junior. Bill’s mother went searching through the house hollering for Bill. When she opened the door to his room, there was Bill laying on his bed staring up at the ceiling in a quiet room. His mother said to young Bill, “What are you doing? We have all been looking for you, yelling and waiting?” Bill Jr. looked up at his mom thoughtfully and said, “I was just thinking. Do you ever just think?”

As Bill Sr. shared that story with the room, he said that his son had always taken the time to simply “just think.” That story has stayed with me over the years and as I was given the gift of time to reflect, slow down and “just think” it occurred to me that, “thinking” is a gift each of us needs to give ourselves. When was the last time you were “just thinking?”

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration May 15, 2015

The benefits of failure

As this week is all about college graduations, commencements and a life lessons crammed into speeches.. A friend and Charity Matters reader recently shared this with me and it was so wonderful I needed to do the same with you. It is a Harvard commencement speech given by the famous author JK Rowling of Harry Potter fame. Her words of wisdom are not just for graduates but for all and her message of the benefits of failure, reads like a road map to success, as long as you pay attention to the signs along the way.

Here are the highlights for those that do not have the gift of 20 minutes (although a gift it is).

“I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”

“If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped change. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.”

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration May 13, 2015

Charity Matters Quotes: Generosity

“Generosity is not giving me that which I need that you do, but it is giving me that which you need more that I do.”

Kahlil Gibran

As many of you know, I run a non-profit organization. The nature of non-profits is that unlike traditional businesses which survive because of goods and services exchanged, non-profits survive because of others belief in a cause and mission. In essence they survive because of others generosity.

There are many challenges that come with this “business” model, such as knowing where the next dollars to fund your program and pay your employees are coming. These past few weeks, I have felt the incredible burden and stress of just that…where will the funds come to pay everyone and make this happen? In truth, it is a sickening feeling that I wish on no one.

However, just when I had to tell my board that I simply didn’t know where to go next….did I receive the gift of generosity that brought me to tears, literally. One person, simply said, “I would like to help.” Those words changed everything, including me.

Like everyone, it feels better to give than to receive. However, to be humbled by one person’s immense generosity is a gift and a lesson I am grateful for. While the non-profit business model has its challenges, I am beyond blessed to be the constant witness of human kindness, compassion and generosity in action. The human spirit’s capacity to love and give is beauty in action.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration May 1, 2015

Commitment Day

What is commitment day? It is one of the most important days in Watts all year. Commitment day is the day that the boys from Verbum Dei High School stand in front of their community and tell everyone where they will be attending college in the fall.

This might not seem like a big deal to many, but for these boys of South Central Los Angeles, this is a game changer. A moment that will alter their life course forever. These young men live in one of the most dangerous, poor and crime ridden neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Yet, 100% will be leaving because they are going to college, against all odds.

What makes their journey more unique than any other high school student? The obstacles that these young men must overcome are simply staggering. First, they must apply (if their parents allow them to or understand) to this amazing boy’s school and be accepted. Often times they are behind academically and students must catch up quickly. While other boys in these neighborhoods are joining gangs, the boys of Verbum Dei are putting on dress shirts and ties.

In addition to overcoming poverty, family issues, grades and gang pressures these young men are trained to work in corporate America. One day a week they board a van to their job where they work to help subsidize their education and more importantly see who they can become. After four years of studying, working, doing sports and becoming “Men for Others” these young men are proud to tell their family and friends that they are heading to a place most have never been, college.

Today is Commitment Day at Verbum Dei. These men will announce to their families, peers and school that they are on their way to schools such as Georgetown, USC and a host of others, all sharing bright future ahead.

The teachers, staff, parents and corporate sponsors have made commitments to these young men and now these young men are committing to the world that they are leaving the life they know and heading to incredible futures full of promise. This is Commitment day.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration April 29, 2015

World Wish Day: Make a Wish Foundation

Today is World Wish Day. World Wish Day is organized by Make-A-Wish to commemorate the anniversary of the wish that inspired the creation of what is now one of the world’s leading children’s charities. Seven-year-old Chris Greicius’ wish to be a police officer was granted in Phoenix, Arizona by volunteers on April 29, 1980.

The Wishes give these children and families something to look forward to, to dream of and a slice of hope. One of my favorite wishes was the little boy from the Bay Area that wanted to be Batman. Never underestimate the power of a wish.

Since Chris’ wish in 1980, more than 300,000 children around the world have had their fondest wishes fulfilled by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Make A Wish Foundation’s mission is to “enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.”

Every 37 minutes, Make-A-Wish grants the wish of a child with a life threatening medical condition somewhere in the world. Today the Make-A-Wish is active in 35 countries. All of this began, with just a simple wish.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration April 24, 2015

It’s never too late

I’m late, a week late. It seems that last week was National Volunteer Week and that the week shifts from time to time in April, as a result I missed it. However, it’s never to late to learn more ways to get involved and about the people who are doing just that.

National Volunteer Week was created by the Points of Light Foundation to promote volunteering. The organization was created out of George Bush’s 1989 inaugural speech calling for a thousand points of light. The organization, helps millions of volunteers change the world. They mobilize people to take action on causes they care about through programs, events and campaigns, such as National Volunteer Week.

Points of Light creates a culture of volunteerism, that celebrates the power of service. The week is used to encourage and volunteering, finding a cause that interests you and inspiring people to jump in. Non-profits from all over the country posted service projects and volunteers went to work.

In addition, some inspiring storied were shared to prove the power of one. This was one of them.

We all have gifts and talents, but how do we choose to share them? When we do, those points of light radiate out of us because there is simply nothing better than knowing your life improved anothers. As volunteer Amy Paterson said,” Anyone can make a difference. The important thing is to find what your strength is and then find a place to put it. Be that point of light, because the world needs you.”

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration April 20, 2015

The Moral Bucket List

Yesterday, I was asked to speak to the high school volunteers and their parents at our annual Staff Recognition Day. I sadly had procrastinated on what to say and I found myself on Facebook…where I believe most of us procrastinators eventually end up. Before I knew it I found myself reading an article from the New York Times called The Moral Bucket List.

Upon reading it, I knew exactly what to share with our group of extraordinary volunteers and I thought it was worth sharing with you. The article talked about “resume virtues versus eulogy virtues.” It was written by David Brooks, who was more or less in search of enlightenment after finding career success, he began to ask what really mattered? He wondered why do some rare people emanate that light, joy, radiance and others do not.

Brooks goes onto say, “ Our culture and our educational systems spend more time teaching the skills and strategies you need for career success rather than the qualities you need to radiate that sort of inner light. Many of us are clearer on how to build an external career than on how to build inner character”.

The more I read the article, the clearer it became to me that everything he was searching for was in fact exactly the skills that our non-profit teaches to its 5th, 6th and 7th grade students. More than that it was what we ask our high school staff to pass onto their younger mentors.

The author posed three questions:

“What values bring happiness and character?”
“Have you developed deep connections that hold you up in times of challenge and push you toward the good?”
Lastly the author asks, “People on the road to inner light do not find their vocations by asking, what do I want from life? They ask, what is life asking of me? How can I match my intrinsic talent with one of the world’s deep needs?

I know these seem to be deep questions to ask to teenagers. Yet, as I spoke to them about finding their gifts and sharing them with the world, I looked at an audience of nodding heads. They already understood what “radiating light and joy” was that author was so desperately in search of ……because each of them was already aglow.

Charity Matters.

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Cancer April 8, 2015

Let it Be

Just hearing the words, Let it be I begin to hear the song..speaking words of wisdom, let it be…let it be. Sometimes letting it be is the most difficult thing of all. Those words were the singular wish of a young girl named Karla Rosen who was diagnosed January 7th, 2005 with a rare brain cancer. Her heartfelt desire was to “just be.”

During that year, their community rallied around their family to take care of meals, Karla’s two siblings, yard work, and all of life’s task that shift in the wake of a child’s health. The community support was overwhelming, wrist bands were made and sold to help pay the medical bills. After a year of fighting this horrible disease, Karla Rosen lost her battle with cancer on February 5th, 2006. She was 15 years old.

Her parents, found a letter in her room shortly after her death that said, “I have only known two other people with my condition: one passed away, and one has been struggling for life in the hospital for many months. I now know, because of what I am able to accomplish once again, what miracle God wanted me to pass on – the miracle of life. Thanks to my cancer, I now do not sweat the small things in life and live it to its fullest.”

With the help of the community, within months of Karla’s death, her family decided to celebrate what would have been Karla’s 16th birthday with the creation of the Let it Be Foundation. Their mission is to provide ongoing support and services to families and children diagnosed with life threatening illnesses throughout the child’s treatment, with a focus on the entire family.

The Rosen family has taken their unbearable loss and turned it into a legacy of compassion for others. As the song says, “there will be an answer, let it be…let it be…..”

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration April 6, 2015

Blind Sided

A few years ago when the movie The Blind Side came out, I was told by a number of friends that I reminded them of Sandra Bullock’s character in the movie. At the time I thought it was perhaps because I had overly highlighted my hair, was raising a football player and had once done interior design. While I love Sandra Bullock, that was not who I was being compared to, but rather to Leigh Anne Tuohy, the character she played. I wasn’t sure exactly how to take this comment.

Months later, while speaking with my step sister, who was then promoting The Blind Side, she told me she had just met the Tuohy family from the film. Unaware of the previous comparisons, she said the same thing, however, this time about the actual person, Leigh Anne. She explained that Leigh Anne Tuohy wanted to bring orphans to the Academy Awards to highlight the need for adoption of abandoned children. Needless to say, that didn’t happen….but I secretly loved the idea.

A few years passed and I forgot all about the comparison. Then, last weekend, my oldest son came home for Easter, and brought me a present. He said, he had heard Mr. Tuohy speak at his school, promoting their new book, In a Heartbeat, Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving. My oldest said, as he heard Sean Tuohy describe his wife, it reminded him of me, so he waited in line and brought me this.

I was flattered beyond words and for once was completely blind sided.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration March 27, 2015

Do Something

I wondered why somebody didn’t do something. Then I realized, I am somebody.

Unknown

I love this quote and I think when I reflect on the incredible women that I profiled this week, it is the perfect fit. Two women, very different who simply wanted to make the world better in any tiny way they could. There is nothing tiny about one person simply helping another. It is the ripple effect of their kindness that makes them unknown heroes.

Each of us has the capacity to do a family service project, get a group of friends together for a dinner or simply to find a small way to lift another up.

You are somebody.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration March 25, 2015

Friends with Causes

I love meeting people who want to make a difference. Every time I come into orbit of an extraordinary person who simply wants to make the world better, I am lifted up and inspired. Last week a friend of mine connected me to another quiet angel is quietly doing just that. Her name is Alexandra Dwek and she is not your average philanthropist.

Alexandra had the brilliant idea of combining the things she loved most, her friends, the causes she cares about and bringing them all together in her home. She named her concept Friends With Causes. Like most of us with busy lives, we don’t get enough time with our friends and going out for dinner or drinks with a friend or two at a time is both expensive and time-consuming. Alexandra came up with the perfect solution.

Four times a year she invites a fun group of friends, usually about 30, to a pot luck at her home. She lets guest know that there is a contribution, usually what you would spend if you went out for drinks or dinner, or whatever you are comfortable with. After a fun casual dinner, a speaker from the non-profit shares the story of their cause and a specific program that they need help with.

Alexandra finds causes that cover a variety of areas from children’s issues to veterans to health and beyond. More than that, she visits the non-profit and specifically identifies one project that her friends can complete, so friends leave knowing that their fun night out made a specific impact. Her dinners typically raise $3,000 and up per evening. More than that, they expose a non-profit to a new audience, enlighten one another, bring people together to make a difference.

As Alexandra so beautifully said quoting Mother Teresa, ” If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one.” She added, “Every little bit makes a difference.”

Charity Matters.

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