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The people of the United States are the most
generous people in the world. We give time, energy and money to our
communities, our country and the world unlike any other people on earth.
We do not look only to our government to deal with problems but pour our
hearts into what we believe to be worthwhile. We speak for those who
cannot speak for themselves. We comfort, organize, promote, touch and
tend because it is our way. In 1999 $190 BILLION was given to
non-profit organizations. It is estimated that over 255 BILLION
volunteer hours were also given. If you multiply that by $11.35 an
hour (which is what the government allows for “in-kind” service) it comes to
a whopping $2,894,250,000,000 (that’s nearly three TRILLION).
Giving is so much a part of our culture, and has been from the beginning,
that ours is the only country in the world that allows a tax deduction for
kindness. Other cultures may be less oriented to personal giving.
For them, perhaps, generosity is a government way, not an individual way.
When the U.S. is cited as last among the G7 nations in foreign aid, it is
because the figures on individual giving are not included.
Jo Noble, FINCA spokesperson and fundraiser, visits a FINCA bank in Malawi,
Africa.
There have been many studies to determine why some people donate and others
don’t. Ethnicity, economic levels, church affiliation, political
affiliation, areas of the country, etc., have all been studied to see if
there is a correlation. The only variable that works is this: if you
were raised by parents or were in an extended family that routinely donated
money and/or time, you probably will too.
Our community is like an extended family. Our very existence has been
dependent and is dependent upon volunteers. In the 1960’s the Pine
Brook Community built the roads and created the Firehouse from lumber and
stone scavenged from a windstorm in Boulder.
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In the next decade we organized and
worked for three years identifying and removing pine beetle infected trees,
saving our forest while hillsides in other nearby areas were ravaged. Our
volunteer time and money helped to renovate and expand our Community
Center/Firehouse, improving its usefulness in training more volunteers in
how to save our lives from fire and medical emergencies. Volunteer time and
effort helps three capable professionals to give us some of the best
drinking water in the state. It has been the
culture here to know our neighbors, to say hi to each other. And we have
held and cried with our neighbors because it is our way, the Pine Brook
assumption that we help one another.
Pete Palmer tutoring a youngster at San Juan
Del Centro.
Pine Brook is full of people who step up to the plate time and time again to ensure our
community’s safety, beauty and joy. It is full of people whose hearts flow
out to every corner of the earth, who stand for peace, safety, justice,
opportunity and comfort. Most of us volunteer every year, some in large
ways and some in smaller ways. It all goes into the pot and creates a
wonderful “neighborhood soup.”
We are trying
to create a scroll to be presented at the January Homeowners Association
meeting with the names of all our PBH volunteers. I wanted to print every
name right here in the paper, but the magnitude of our list would look very
much like the phone directory (another volunteer project, by the way).
Instead, our sincere and heartfelt THANK YOU to all who have helped create
the culture of giving in this community. I know that we will miss more than
a few names on our list and ask you to PLEASE call me at 444-6747 so that
your name may be included. What makes a community? It’s not about how
much we make or what we own, but how we live and how we give back.
From The Pine Brook Press, Winter, 2002
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