Me and Lynne Twist, co-founder of the Pachamama Alliance.
Hello Beautiful Soul!
One of the many wonderful character traits my father possessed was generosity. And he insisted on maintaining his anonymity about it. Always. The man was basically a philanthropic ninja.
In high school, I served as the community service coordinator for my yearbook staff. One year, I wanted to adopt a handful of families for the holidays to make sure they had the gifts on their wish lists that they couldn't otherwise afford. I told my dad I wasn't sure we'd raise enough to cover all the families I had in mind.
His answer: raise as much as you possibly can, and he'd cover the rest. Under one condition: he was never to be recognized, thanked by name, or associated with the donation in any way. My yearbook advisor understood how much this mattered to him, and she never told a soul.
Even my fellow yearbook staffers had no idea. So if, by some chance, anyone reading this happened to be on my high school yearbook staff — surprise! You're finding out right along with everyone else, several decades late. Sorry, Dad!
I truly appreciate my dad's lesson: the reward of generosity is in the act itself.
Now to be perfectly transparent, I did not fully inherit my dad's ninja gene.
I've discovered I have a mile-long competitive streak when it comes to fundraising, and I don't mind one bit when a cause I love puts my name on the leaderboard.
A couple of years ago, when Kabul Small Animal Sanctuary needed to airlift 300 dogs and cats out of Afghanistan to safety, I found myself refreshing the fundraising leaderboard like it was a sporting event — determined to outraise Susan for the top slot.
"Oh no you don't, Susan!", I could be heard yelling when she pulled into the lead of my imaginary race to outfund each other.
Many of you pitched in and helped us (Susan included) to complete this important mission, and 300 sweet animals are ever so grateful for that.
All of which brings me to the real reason I'm writing today: the Pachamama Alliance.
I've supported the Pachamama Alliance for years, and its work is deeply close to my heart. In fact, it quietly rearranged the course of my life. It was on a Pachamama Alliance trip that I first witnessed the plight of dogs living in the remote regions of the Amazon rainforest, and I haven't been the same since. I'll save the full story of how that mission found me for another time. Suffice it to say, this organization did more than introduce me to a cause...it handed me a purpose I didn't know I was looking for.
Last week, I received some very special videos from the veterinarian in Ecuador whose work I'm helping to support. Veterinarian Karen Robayo and her team provide basic medical care to the dogs and cats in the remote territories of the Amazon rainforest. This video shows them on a recent mission, and I want to share it with you because it lifts my heart and gives me hope.
Spoiler alert: my name appears at the end, and — true to form — I'm 100% okay with that.
