November 11, 2016

We have a philosophy for philanthropy in our house: No matter your means, just do it.

We all can give back in our own way. And we can do it at any age. We just have to decide that this is how we want to be in the world.

Whether it’s the child selling lemonade and cookies on the street for a cause or the school group collecting cans for the local food cupboard, anyone can do something. It can be small acts that raise awareness for a cause, or a huge grant from a local group like the Farash Foundation.

My family always knew that we had so much to be grateful for that we were required to give back. We started teaching our kids when they were little that they had to, as well. Our first family charity project began one weekend after Thanksgiving by collecting items from our neighborhood for Willow Domestic Violence Center (formerly Alternatives for Battered Women) and the Center for Youth.

Later, as our kids got older, we did a big family barbecue at the Center for Youth on my husband’s birthday in December.

Because I’ve never met a microphone I didn’t like, I’ve also contributed my time as emcee and auctioneer for organizations that are close to my heart.

My kids have learned from all this and have shown up in their own way philanthropically, with my son sitting on the board of directors of the Center for Youth and leading the philanthropic effort at his fraternity on campus (he says that’s apparently why fraternities exist. “Right, Mom?”).

My daughter and her friends have supported Catherine’s Peace Team with events in memory of Catherine Hubbard, who was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and by founding a Girl Up group, a United Nations organization that teaches girls how to make a difference for girls, at her high school.

Yet it has always been my dream to find a way to make both a local and global contribution that has meaning and impact. As I told the story in Rochester Magazine, 18 months ago I traveled to South Africa. While there I visited a center where Relate bracelets are made.  Relate has sold more than 2 million bracelets worldwide, with proceeds contributing to many different causes: from breast cancer and clean water to saving the rhinos.

The bracelets are made by senior citizens who are employed to bead them, and then they’re put together by young people who are paid in both salary and educational opportunities. Each bracelet then benefits a different charitable cause.

On our trip, my son and I were able to meet some of the people who work for Relate. One young person studies hospitality and is now in the management training program at Pick n’ Pay, one of the largest grocery chains in Africa.  Another, a “gogo” (or grandmother) as she was called, is a foster mother to six young children who would otherwise have no home.

I was incredibly moved that day, sitting side by side beading bracelets, listening to that woman sing joyfully as she worked.

And now, I can think of her a world away as she makes a new kind of Relate bracelet — one that will benefit children far away from her, but close to us. Because we’ve partnered with Relate to create a Suburban Outlaw bracelet to help our youth in Rochester.

The bracelets are now available at Wegmans in Pittsford in a special section in the Health and Beauty department dedicated to gifts that make a difference. Each bracelet sold here will benefit the Center for Youth and the Young Women’s College Prep charter school.

This, to me, is really the ideal. Bead by bead, person by person, doing good is all the better when it’s a chance to help dreams come true — for others and for yourself.

As first published in the Democrat + Chronicle and on the USA Today Network