There’s a sign outside our office that simply says “Do Gooders.” It was originally meant to be tongue-in-cheek because our roles include working with our local communities through the National Life Group Foundation. But after a while we realized we were proud to be referred to as the Do Gooders.
Our Foundation isn’t huge; our budget is modest, which limits our giving. But what we’ve learned is that the donations we are able to provide often make a difference that is beyond what we expected.
For example, some programs we fund include providing low-income children with backpacks filled with food to take home to their families on Fridays. The backpacks are discreetly packed by a school nurse or guidance counselor so no other children know what’s inside. One little girl who was in kindergarten shared that it made her proud that she could take care of her family. Can you imagine a five-year-old taking care of her family? Or a family who simply doesn’t have enough to eat on a weekend?
Another program we fund helps pay for digital albums that are filled with art from galleries around the world, world-class galleries such as the Getty and the Smithsonian. Thousands of pieces of art are then shared through these books to hospice patients. My own father-in-law died last year of lung cancer. I wish he had a book like this to view, one that we could have shared together that might have taken his mind off of the dire situation he was in and transported him somewhere else, even for a moment.
There is a lot of good happening in our communities. So many non-profit organizations are vital to the health and well-being of our neighbors who often find themselves in difficult situations. If we as an organization can donate money to help those who do good, or if we as individuals can donate our time to volunteer, we’re proud to do so. And proud to be among those who are called Do Gooders.
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