Small Isn't Really Small At All

Hi, friends! 

This is Jessie here, outside on my front porch rocking chair on this warm fall Monday. Now all I need is a hot cup of coffee to complete the fall feel!

Fall vacations are ensuing right now and families are gathering. As the pumpkins are being bought and baked goods delicately created, I can't help but think about what it is to be human. From what I have captured, before working at a non-profit, I knew that there was good, but that bad also existed. Sometimes it was hard to tell where the balance tipped. 

For four-years of college, my pr professor and mentor told me continuously to "Do good things for good people." I started to envision what this could possibly look like. And it looked like the world of non-profits. So after graduation, I didn't just take a meek step into the uncharted waters of this sector; I dove straight in.

This is what I have found in the past several months.
Being human in a non-profit world looks a lot like the following:

-Pulling complete strangers up to give them a head-start, a chance, at a good life.
-Encouraging one another and seeing everyone as a fellow helper and friend.
-Seeing every singular person's duty as incredibly important.
-Filling in the gap for others... always.
-Sticking together and finding a way to navigate a very vast world.
-Allowing yourself and others to feel small.
- Sharing, sharing, sharing.
-Giving, giving, giving.
-And, gracious, do community businesses truly come through?! (Thank you to ALL our donors and sponsors)!

As I say this, I want to speak about payroll deductions. You see, I was sitting for days trying to find a way to say what needed to be said; to explain what is so greatly important.

A payroll deduction, my friends, can come in the form of a simple one dollar bill from your paycheck. To put this in perspective, you can't even buy gum for a dollar anymore. Or, if you feel called to do so, this could look like five dollars. To look at this in a different way, this could be one Starbucks Latte'. And maybe the fact that this is such a small amount is what is causing your reservations. How could it even matter? If that is the case I will say this to you.

We were finally able to create an endowment from payroll deductions because of the one dollar-or five dollars- from many teachers. This was something we have been striving and planning and reaching for, for so long now! And we did it, because of you all. Now, because of this, $1000 a year will go to student scholarships!

We now ask of you, because you have brought us this far, how much more can you reach? How much more can you do? What difference in a life can one dollar really mean?

Because if you ask me, based on what I have seen from the non-profit sector, small is never really small at all. Instead, it is all a domino effect that changes the trajectory of lives.

Will you ever know? Probably not.

But can you ensure that you are doing good things for good people? I would argue...absolutely.

So let me ask you...

What can you do with one dollar?

Oh...and a little PSA...

Every single person who signs up for payroll deductions (whether it's $1 or $20 or $300) is automatically entered into a monthly raffle to win $250 cash. This is a generous donation from Bailey and Wood (and can we all get a THANK YOU)!

Take care, all! Have a beautiful fall break:)