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by Curtis W. Meadows Jr.
Thompson & Knight
Executive Director of the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service, Curtis W. Meadows, Jr. has had a long career in the independent sector including 18 years of service as President, CEO, and Director of the Meadows Foundation of Texas. Mr. Meadows now holds the title of Director Emeritus of the Meadows Foundation. He has held additional leadership positions with more than 60 charitable and community organizations, including the Board of Trustees of Austin College, the Centers for Disease Control Foundation, the Murrell Foundation, and the Dallas Bar Foundation. He also served as President and Director of the Center for Nonprofit Management, the Center for Housing Resources and as President and Board Chairman of the Conference of Southwest Foundations. Mr. Meadows holds B.B.A. and J.D. degrees from The University of Texas at Austin.
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I am pleased to be here to add my appreciation for the outstanding philanthropic service rendered by the individuals, families, businesses and organizations we honor today. And what a privilege it is to be able to do so. For I have become a singer of the praises of those in our society who give back some of their talents, time and treasure to help others. They represent the true spirit of the American people and they are the torch bearers of liberty and citizenship. They keep alive our sense of belonging to a caring society that pursues fairness, justice and opportunity for all.
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Since the attainment of such a society is elusive and continuing, I want to talk about why our national spirit of philanthropy is so important, about the traditions, beliefs and attitudes that shape it and about the its history and its future. I want to explore not just what we do with our gifts and volunteer time, but why we give them.
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Our philanthropic spirit is rooted in our nation's unique history and continues to unfold into our time. Our philanthropic legacy is the interwoven story of wealth and poverty, of dreams and frustrations, of good intentions and arrogance, of the head and the heart.
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When we talk about the origins and philosophical underpinnings of what Jim Joseph, former President of the Council on Foundations called the "charitable impulse", it is important to emphasize that it has roots and different expressions in almost all cultures. In a book on the subject, he notes that: "the charitable impulse is triggered whenever people see themselves as part of a community, whether it be the family, the neighborhood, or the nation. As the sense of community expands, so does the scope of philanthropy."1
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It was the ancient Greeks who coined the word "philanthropy", which meant love of humankind. The early Christians used the word "agape" to represent a blending of love and charity, not just liking, but unconditional acceptance. It taught that the neighbor to be loved was anybody and that it is necessary to care about the welfare of the one helped as well as to give assistance.
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The moral imperatives of many religions influence actions to help others. The Jewish tradition is that charity is not only to be a selfless act but based upon a concern for the oppressed and the seeking of justice. Giving is to be done with thought, marked by reflection, respect for the other party, and humility by the donor. In the Jewish teachings, how you give, matters as much as what you give. 2
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Islam challenges Moslems "to practice the virtues of benevolence and justice in order to retain a relative state of purity."3 Confucius taught that benevolence was a characteristic element of the maturity of a person toward being truly human.4
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As all religious believers struggle to understand the response expected by their deity for the gift of life, they are also faced with trying to understand how they should live in relationship to other human beings.
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Most cultures, as well as religions, teach about charity and giving. Wealthy Armenians had a tradition that they should give as much as 9/10ths of their money to charity. Some Native American tribes followed a belief that status was achieved by distributing wealth rather than accumulating, literally distributing everything they had accumulated at death on a come and get it basis."5
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Charity in Japan was normally directed to the particular benefit of an individual, family, or institution with whom the donor had close personal ties. Early Hispanic and African charitable traditions revolved around family and extended group needs. In this country, minority and ethnic groups widely used churches and benevolent societies to help the members of the group and extend charitable assistance to others.6
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As early immigrants came to this land they brought their strong religious faith, a deep suspicion of government, and a fierce independence. They fought for and obtained a constitution and bill of rights that limited governmental authority over their lives. In so doing, they accepted substantial responsibility for their own welfare and, indirectly, for their neighbors' needs as well.
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In a country so vast and immense, new settlers often came to an area long before a local governmental authority existed. They learned to depend upon themselves; and, drawing on their various philanthropic traditions, they formed associations with their neighbors to resolve common problems.
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This process of associating with others to address community issues outside of government became a hallmark of our new democracy. Our forefathers felt so strongly about these expressed rights of assembly, freedom of speech, and petition of government for redress of grievances, that they were guaranteed in the First Amendment of our Constitution. The American voluntary nonprofit sector that has arisen from these freedoms is unmatched in the world in the vast size, scope, and variety of its activities.
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But whatever the origin or source of the charitable impulse, it is always, when expressed, an act of individual will and decision. We choose to help and we determine the process of delivering our help. While it is a personal action, it is also a relational one. At its best, it is the compassionate or passionate extension of genuinely felt understanding, empathy and encouragement.
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Such acts lift our eyes and hearts to the world around us, to the concerns and needs of others. We become part of the brotherhood and sisterhood of humankind and we grow more together in our human relationships and in our sense of common community.
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To actualize such hopeful aspirations, we have formed more than a million and a half American nonprofit organizations, churches, and associations. A recent Gallop poll reported that close to 70% of all American households make contributions to charitable organizations.
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Studies have consistently shown that most Americans, of whatever race, religion, or creed, are involved in some ongoing way in voluntarily helping other people.7 Estimates are that more than 100 million of us volunteer about 20 billion hours of unpaid service every year.
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And if giving our time was not enough, we are freely giving out of our private and personal resources an estimated $150 billion dollars, 88% of which comes from millions and millions of individuals8, most of whom get only a small tax benefit from the gift.
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Most of all, the American nonprofit system is about belief, idealism, passion, and hope giving. It is laden with feeling and emotion as well as rational thought. It is focused on others and not on ourselves.
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Real community is built between people based upon their acceptance of the idea that they have a relationship to other humankind. Therefore, as Jim Joseph notes, "the challenge for a society that wants peace and harmony among its people, is to continue to seek to widen the citizen's sense of significant connectedness to an ever expanding group of other." Philanthropy then is really all about a life's journey of connecting with others and engaging in a walk together to a better place we all want to go.
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This freedom to associate with others to address common concerns is critical to preserving liberty, developing a sense of community, and protecting the interests of minority groups. Such a system cannot exist in a totalitarian society, for it allows people to challenge the status quo and to act independently from government solutions and programs.
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It is the spirit of those of you who dare or are compelled by conscience to act boldly on behalf of others that we honor here today. As the caregivers among us, you are a blessing to our society, and you do God's work in this world. You are found everywhere there is need and opportunity. You change lives and improve conditions by your selfless service. Whether you are teaching, healing, comforting, feeding, or encouraging, you are keeping alive the spirit of hope in America.
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For some of you, such service has been a call to lifetime vocation; for others, the opportunity for voluntary action. You often work under difficult conditions, and for very little recognition or reward. Your faith, your humanity, or your sense of fairness draws you into the lives of those who are impoverished, suffering, or neglected. Encouraging the gifted and talented actualizes your aspirations for a world filled with human achievement and creative expression.
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Whether demonstrating what Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity, calls the "theology of the hammer", what De Tocqueville defined as "habits of the heart", or what Thomas Jefferson urged as "the principle of citizen participation", you and the institutions you direct are answering, in your own way, fundamental questions about the meaning and purpose of life and our relationship to our fellow inhabitants of this planet.
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Our citizens of conscience and persuasion have created out, of different perceived realities and visions, organizations, foundations, and programs that they believe are needed for a better society. These efforts enable the connecting link between diverse philanthropic interests and human requirements and aspirations.
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I believe that this vast array of nonprofit voluntary action groups is a fundamental unifying strength of America. They form a tapestry woven out of liberty, conviction and humanity. Those of you involved in this work are the front line troops in the battles against poverty, disease, injustice, and abuse. You nurture, teach, comfort, and assist. You inspire, shame, and challenge the rest of us to do more, to do better, and to feel. You are amazing in your commitment and passion. You move and motivate us to join with you on a crusade to that higher hill where hope resides.
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For eighteen years at the Meadows Foundation, I listened to your dreams, read your appeals, and visited your work. You have changed my understanding of the realities of this world. I am a different person because of the lessons you have taught me about life.
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All of us have the capacity to give something to others, no matter how meager our resources. Whether we give our time, our talents, or our money, in helping others we act out our beliefs and principles. When we do that without hypocrisy, honoring those we serve and sharing in their struggles, we break down boundaries of distrust and division in our society. We are all changed in the process.
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Mahatma Gandhi once said: "I cannot imagine anything nobler than that for, …one hour in the day, we should all do the labour that the poor must do, and thus identify ourselves with them and through them with all mankind. I cannot imagine better worship of God than that in His name I should labour for the poor even as they do."9
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I have been blessed in my work to have seen many examples of this true spirit of giving, but the need is immense, and the spirit in others must grow and be encouraged. Caring for others, as we have seen, is taught by every religion, yet acting on the teaching is often put aside. In many cases, it is not that people don't have the impulse to become involved, it is the process and place of connection that is not found.
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This is the essential role the nonprofit organization plays for the donor or volunteer. It identifies a place of service and provides the opportunity for action.
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During a recent Christmas season, volunteers from the staff of the Meadows Foundation and members of the Meadows family participated in the construction of a home for a family of six. For most of us, it was our first time to work on a Habitat for Humanity house and it was fun as well as rewarding. We joined with other community volunteers and inmates from the Hutchins state prison who volunteered their services to participate in the project.
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At the dedication, all of us stood together holding hands singing, praying, and celebrating. The inmates presented a Bible to the family who now lives in the house, and their guards brought a Christmas tree. Housewarming gifts were brought by the other volunteer participants, and all of us pointed with pride to the place where we painted or hammered to make the house complete. By giving each of us a tangible way to personally help someone else, Habitat provided the opportunity for the individual and group expression of our human and religious values in service to others.
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Robert Bellah wrote: "Our problems today are not just political. They are moral and have to do with the meaning of life . . . We are beginning to understand that our common life requires more than an exclusive concern for material accumulation. Perhaps life is not a race whose goal is being foremost... Perhaps there are practices of life, good in themselves, that are inherently fulfilling. Perhaps enduring commitment to those we love and civic friendship toward our fellow citizens are preferable to relentless competition and anxious self-defense." 10
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The theologian Francis Schaeffer poses the ultimate question that each of us must answer: "How then shall we live?"
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We learn our morals and values from our families, from our religious institutions and from our schools. What we are taught is tested and influenced by the world in which we live. As we create opportunities for experiential learning about the joy and purpose of giving to others, we reinforce our teachings of faith and humanity.
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We cannot hope to solve the difficult issues of our time without some sense of connectedness to others outside of our own small circle. The building of community and civic responsibility is essential to a just and fair, as well as, a peaceful and orderly society and world.
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It has been predicted that in the next twenty years as much as ten trillion dollars will be passed from one generation to another. Whatever the actual amount turns out to be, it will be the largest transfer of wealth in history. Imagine what a difference such funds could make if dedicated to the betterment of mankind.
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As we increasingly shift the social safety net from government to the private sector and as responsibility for action moves from the national to the state and local scene, our philanthropic action will be needed as never before.
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The nonprofit sector, then, with all of its diversity of choice of service, is vital to our nation, and we must tell its millions of success stories as often as we can to give hope and draw greater participation. We must also be vigilant and quick to correct abuse of the system, but we should not be deterred or discouraged by a few bad examples when so many more good ones exist.
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The American spirit in philanthropy is constantly evolving through its varied expressions by our citizens. Enabled by freedom, shaped by religious conviction, blended with cultural teachings, molded by historical experience, people of compassion and passion throughout our nation daily demonstrate, in millions and millions of individual acts of kindness, enlightenment, and generosity, that "two vital principals abound in this land: the need to do good for one another and the need to love and respect each other".
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Ultimately, it is up to us to act. Ultimately, it is our choice. It is not as easy as people sometimes think to help others but it must be done. In a book about Mother Teresa it is reported that on a wall in a children's home in India where she served is written:
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"People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered,
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LOVE THEM ANYWAY
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If you do good, people will accuse you of
selfish, ulterior motives,
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DO GOOD ANYWAY
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The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow,
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DO GOOD ANYWAY
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What you spent years building may be
destroyed overnight,
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BUILD ANYWAY
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People really need help
but may attack you if you help them,
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HELP PEOPLE ANYWAY" 11
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Copyright Kent M. Keith 1968, 2001. www.paradoxicalcommandments.com
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This is the true sprit of philanthropy, to help others anytime, every way and anyway. For our own souls and spirits, reconciliation and understanding must be our quest. So, to all those honored today, we thank you for your service to us and to others. In your own creative ways and from your own traditions and beliefs, you have helped stitch and shape the brilliantly colored patchwork quilt that is the American character and the true spirit of this nation.
- James A. Joseph The Charitable Impulse, The Foundations Center, 1989.
- Ibid. Page 19, 20.
- Ibid. Page 19.
- Robert Lee, "The Confucian Spirit", Foundation News, May/June 1990.
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Clara Sue Kidwell, "True Indian Giving", Foundation News, May/June 1990.
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Jennifer Leonard, "A New Age for Mutual Aid", Foundation News, May/June 1990
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Virginia Ann Hodgkinson & Murray S. Weitzman, Dimensions of the Independent Sector, A Statistical Profile, Independent Sector.
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American Association of Fund-Raising Counsel, Giving USA, 1995.
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Mahatma Gandhi, All Men Are Brothers, Page 121, The Continuum Publishing Company, 1995.
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Robert Bellah, Habits of the Heart, Page 295, Harper & Row, 1985.
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Dr. Kent M. Keith, The Paradoxical Commandments, 1968, 2001.
Home Page www.paradoxicalcommandments.com
