“If you ever want to feel good about yourself, go help someone else.”
— John Ferber, Secret Millionaire
As season begins to wind down, so do the numerous charity events that keep our coastal area hopping through the winter months. It seems this season was exceptionally busy with galas, luncheons, home tours, comedy nights and trunk shows galore.
Beyond all of the great food donated by local restaurants and hotels, the seemingly endless bottles of wine and the fabulous raffle and auction items, there were hours and hours of hard work spent by a shrinking number of nonprofit staff members.
Over the past few seasons, our local nonprofits have been laboring to do more with less, hoping to fill the portion of their coffers depleted from cutbacks at the city and county level.
Even dependable umbrella groups like United Way have redefined where they allocate their resources, and it’s left some of our local nonprofits working harder than ever to keep private donations rolling in to meet the needs of those who benefit from their services.
And the need is there, and growing, in a still-difficult economy.
Many of the people who have contributed most to the success of the local philanthropy season will be heading north soon.
Those of us who stay here should shout out a huge “thank you” for their hard work, enthusiasm and willingness to volunteer their time and open their pockets to help local causes.
The challenge for those of us who are here year-round is to keep up the momentum. The nonprofits can’t take the summer off. The needs remain.
So, even if we don’t have millions to give in public (or in secret), we have our time and energy and skills to share.
So take our neighbor — and television’s “secret millionaire” — John Ferber’s advice and feel good about yourself.
Go help someone else.
Volunteer.
Donate.
— Mary Kate Leming, Editor
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