Giving for Good

When I was approached to be involved with the campaign, I instantly said yes. (To myself, I said, “You’re too old and weak and tired to do this—but how can you not?”) So a few days later, we put together a list of 10 people—10 busy people we wanted to have on the campaign steering committee to plan strategy and make solicitations and recruit others. And we called them, and all 10—Mary Lou Dasburg and Karen Bohn and Jim Chosy and Glenda Struthers and Rusty Cohen and Ann Barkelew and Mike Mikan and Kit and Dick Schmoker and Beverly Grossman—said yes.

They said yes without hesitation or excuses or begging off. None of them “needed” another assignment; all of them knew they were signing on for a long voyage, and they all said yes. What an amazing group, and what an extraordinary community they represent. It’s a community in which the culture moves people to say yes rather than no, to give more rather than less, and to reach out rather than withdraw.

I talk to friends in other cities, and I read about what goes on elsewhere. And the more I do, the more I come to understand and appreciate what we have going here: an attitude, a self-imposed standard, a generosity of heart (and of pocketbook) that enriches all our lives. It creates in the Twin Cities an environment that is so desirable to live in, to do business in, and, one day, to bequeath to our children, grandchildren, and all those who follow.