Around Christmas I received some thank you notes from the boys and girls at Kurn Hattin thanking the St. Nicholas Project donors for the money we raised to buy them new shoes. The cards broke my heart--in a good sense! Our fall fundraiser "Shoes for St. Nicholas", collects money so that the staff at Kurn Hattin Homes for Children can buy new shoes for the kids. We begin late summer in anticipation of the new school year. Have you ever had second thoughts about doing a fundraiser because you were so busy with the rest of life and didn't know how you could make it work? One more thing to do? That's how my fall was this past year. I almost didn't do the back-to-school shoe fundraiser. But,I did. And am I glad I did. The thank you cards I received moved me so deeply because of the sincerity of the children who really needed the shoes and boots. And we raised over $6,000! If I had remained apathetic (or more accurately, overwhelmed) it would have been $0 and no grateful children. Sometimes apathy can be our own worst enemy. It's an attitude rooted in fear of failure. Or it's rooted in the fear of trying not to burden people with another fundraiser. But I often forget that my apathy may be preventing a donor from exercising charity and benevolence--and that would be a tragedy.
I could tell that a lot of time and thought went into the thank you notes with nice photos of the kids, drawings and a handwritten note from each of them. That moved my heart and healed my apathy. If you find yourself feeling the same thing--overwhelmed and wondering if your fundraising makes any difference--post some thank you notes on the wall in front of your desk and let the grateful recipients of your charities speak for themselves.
