A time to celebrate real heroes
December 5, 2005
By Cam Tait
Every week, I try to make some type of sense on a topic within 600 words or less. So when Steve from Edmonton sent me an e-mail with a word count of almost 1,300, I knew I wouldn't be able to share with you everything he said, but he certainly had a strong message. The topic: Philanthropy Day. He was commenting on what I said last week.
Steve was surprised when I said I hadn't heard much about the event, considering that the newspaper I work for was a sponsor. As chair of the event, he personally dropped off a package and an invitation for me at my office. (Note to self: open mail more often, even when it's ticking.)
Steve told me the Philanthropy Day luncheon was moved to a different venue this year. "A good call, as we grew from 539 in 2004 to 622 this year. The growth came about as a result of a few things that did include promotion and general awareness."
For the past two years, Steve has chaired Philanthropy Day in Edmonton. And right from the get-go, he says "it was my position to change the face of this event to reflect the real reason we should be celebrating philanthropy in our community. So we nixed the idea of a keynote speaker and put the focus where it should be, which is on the nominees and, for that matter, all people and organizations in our community that are committed to making things better for all."
As well, the word 'winner' was replaced with 'recipient'. "That is because," Steve says, "as cliché as it may sound, we look at all nominees as winners. It is simply that some stand out a bit further then others and sometimes their story is told better by the nominator."
It worked like a charm. "After receiving their award, [the recipients] joined Mayor Mandel for a few minutes at a couch and chair set-up - imagine a Jay Leno meets Oprah Winfrey format. This went off perfectly as we have a mayor who can interact so well in that format...it brought more of a face to what we were celebrating. When the mayor chatted with each recipient he did so in a manner that was both engaging and inspiring. Just what I had hoped for, and I truly believe everyone in the room felt uplifted by what they had just experienced.
"It is very important to me, and for that matter to our committee, the AFP board and the entire membership of AFP to insure that this event is about philanthropy in our community and all those who give of their time, energy, and resources to make our community a better place. It is not about AFP and self-promotion of professional fundraisers. I am very passionate about philanthropy, Philanthropy Day, and our entire community. It is very important to me that, in a time where we continue to idolize overpaid athletes and movie stars, we don't forget the real heroes and leaders of our community."
I've pared down Steve's comments due to space, but I think we get to see one thing very clearly: Philanthropy Day is a celebration. So to everyone involved, like Steve, congratulations!
Cam Tait is a sports reporter and columnist for the Edmonton Journal. He covered community investments and volunteers for 19 years. E-mail Cam at cam@charityvillage.com with thoughts, suggestions or ideas.
Opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of CharityVillage.com®.
