I Live Here, I Give Here

Last Tuesday, August 2, was I Live Here, I Give Here’s fall 2011 See Jane Give! event and my first big ILH, IGH event.  Waking up early that Tuesday, I busied myself thinking about all that had to be done to insure the event’s success.  I worked feverishly all day, even through the start of the event, to make sure all was going smoothly.

Finally, once the program started, I was able to sit back and take in the enormity of the evening and all that it entailed.  I had the pleasure of being seated at Jenny Cochran’s table, a woman who has achieved professional success working for Temple-Inland and who has committed her time and resources to several local organizations, including I Live Here, I Give Here.   Cochran invited the different women seated at her table to introduce themselves, talk about their own personal giving (if any), and say what they hoped to take away from the evening.

The general consensus was that we all hoped to better our personal giving by looking to the women around us that evening, so that we may become the person those around us in our daily lives will be looking to for their personal giving.

Keynote speaker Elizabeth Christian shared personal stories about how her life of planned personal giving was shaped by the people who raised her.  Christian spoke about how her father and adopted mother gave when “no one was looking” or when “no one was asking,” they gave because they saw a need and knew they could help meet it.  Those acts of loving-kindness were not performed for personal gain, but to strengthen a community.

Christian’s life is still greatly impacted by her parents’ acts of giving since to this day, people she has never met before tell stories of her parent’s support in a time of much need.  Even more special, Christian’s mother was able to attend the event to hear the speech.

The notion that a person’s parents and family form their own personal giving resonated throughout our table’s conversation for the rest of the night.  I was accompanied by mothers who wanted to impress upon their children the importance of giving back and those, like myself, who wanted to know where to even start.  The fact that we were even seeking out the answers to these questions showed we were all on the right path and off to a pretty good start.

The shared discussion was informative, insightful, and gave me a “giving high.”  As I move forward in my daily life and days are put between that evening and myself, I will remember the words that were shared and how I seek to incorporate into my life planned personal giving. 

For those women who would like to join in this discussion of personal giving, please check back in the spring for the next See Jane Give!

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The Fourth of July is synonymous with patriotism, the colors red, white, and blue, family barbeques featuring all-American hot dogs, and fireworks in celebration of the day the United States adopted the Declaration of Independence way back in 1776.   My Fourth of July weekend included all of those things minus the latter.  Fireworks have always been one of my favorite things and while it was hard for me to accept that the only fireworks I was going to see this Fourth of July were being played on TV, it was even harder for me to think about the families who currently have loved ones serving our country abroad.

Those families’ Fourth of July celebrations also included the fact that their beloved soldier lived through one more day abroad which brings them one day closer to returning home.

Austin is home to Camp Mabry, the headquarters of the Texas Military Forces, making it a home to a large military population as well.  According to the American Red Cross of Central Texas, there are about 61,000 veterans in Travis County and more than 130,000 veterans in the Austin metropolitan area.  Veterans are not just individuals who have served (or are currently serving) in our armed forces; they are fathers, daughters, nephews, sisters, spouses, and most importantly, they are heroes.       

Sometimes, though, even heroes need a little help and I Live Here, I Give Here wants to let them know that help is available.  This month’s Community Needs Spotlight is Support for Returning Soldiers.  Representatives from Goodwill Industries of Central Texas, the Samaritan Center for Counseling and Pastoral Care, divine canines, and the American Red Cross of Central Texas will offer their knowledge on the issue and how the Austin community can come together to meet the needs of its local veterans. 

Check out this video to see how Goodwill is already working to overcome this issue.

Please join me for lunch on Thursday, July 28, to learn more about this specific issue and how you can make a difference for the local veteran community that has made a huge difference in the lives of all of us.

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I take a lot of pride in being from Texas and even more so in being from Austin.  I was born at Seton Medical Center on 38^th street, spent my elementary school days at Kirby Hall on 29^th Street, lived on 24^th street for 2 years while attending UT, and as of just over a month ago, I work on Cesar Chavez Street as an intern for I Live Here, I Give Here.

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