enrich SUMMER 2012
philanthropy in our community
Including Your Children in Philanthropy Our Talk About Giving (TAG)
initiative supports Midlands families in raising generous, community-minded children through active engagement in family giving. Through our blog, card game and social media we provide timely and inspirational tips, advice and ideas that parents can use to actively incorporate giving. We understand that teaching our children that giving gifts is just as, or more, rewarding as receiving them sometimes falls on deaf ears. It’s a tough lesson, but once they grasp the concept, it may last a lifetime. One of the blog posts on the site encouraged parents to make their child’s next birthday more meaningful by planning a charitable birthday party rather than filling their already overstuffed toy box. After all, many children these days have more gadgets and gizmos than they could ever possibly play with. We received great feedback from this post. One of our TAG followers, Julie Smith Turner, and her son Jack, decided to dedicate his most recent birthday to a good cause. Julie then shared her story through a TAG blog post. As they planned the usual birthday party with lots of friends, Julie, inspired by TAG’s blog, sat with her almost seven-year-old son to brainstorm about inexpensive gifts that could be put to good
inside
Art supplies collected for Palmetto Children’s Hospital. use by people who really need them.
pile of crayons, paints, coloring books,
“Initially, he reacted like I expected.
colored pencils and markers that our
He wanted gifts at his party,” Julie says.
guests gave so generously,” she says.
“The more we talked about it and I
Delivering the gifts to the hospital
reminded him that he’d still get a few
reinforced Jack’s satisfaction
real presents, he thought it would be nice
with his good deed.
to do something for someone else.” The final idea was all Jack’s. He
“He was very impressed with the Children’s Hospital,” she says. “We looked
decided to help Palmetto Health
at the fish tank and the reception ‘boat,’
Children’s Hospital by asking his friends
and he talked to several folks who worked
to bring art supplies to the party.
there. He thought it was all pretty neat.”
“I can’t say he felt great about forfeiting gifts then, but I could tell he felt better when he saw the massive
Changing with the Times
page 2
Charitable Birthdays cont.
page 3
Call for Nominations
page 3
Protecting our K-9s
page 4
Literacy Plan Completed
page 5
Charitable Connections
page 6
Jack may not understand the full impact of his gifts right now, but Julie
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
We are a nonprofit organization serving 11 counties in the Midlands by distributing grants and scholarships and linking the resources of donors, nonprofits and community leaders to areas of need. Join us on Facebook for the latest news Our page is public, so you don’t have to join Facebook to view it.