Connecting with family and values this holiday season

By Erin Drury Boorn, director of donor relationships

In our Giving Cubes game that we share with our donor families, one question you might roll the dice on is “What is your first memory of philanthropy?” That’s an easy one for me. My mom planted a large garden – much larger than we needed – every summer: tomatoes, strawberries, okra, cucumbers, squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, and green beans. It was cathartic for her, something she worked hard on, and that also put a lot of fresh food on our plates. I certainly did not appreciate it at the time; no doubt I did not want to eat any of those vegetables. My philanthropy memory of this story is that she was always delivering much of the produce to friends and neighbors to share, which often meant talking and being connected to our community.

Philanthropy is often associated with wealth and dollars, but the giving of time and talent is just as needed today. Many of the activities that we work with our donors on are aimed at getting families to share their stories with each other. Telling our stories can be helpful in bridging the divide in our values, politics and religions. This holiday season, tell stories to your family and friends about how philanthropy impacted your life. Use our Extra Wish book to ask children which organization they would want to give to and start a conversation about our great and diverse community.

If you need help bringing your family together for a family discussion on values, our philanthropy team is trained and ready to assist you.