The brilliant American poet Maya Angelou said, “When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.”  This inspiring quote speaks to the fact that the act of giving is a reward for our souls. It nourishes and reminds us of our fundamental humanity. It’s why you can’t wait to give a gift to someone you love and can’t stop smiling once you have. Reams of social science research validate this, but you already know it in your heart.

Giving is joyful.

I suspect that’s why so many of associates and volunteers have plunged into the opportunity to raise sponsorship and peer to peer contributions for our Turkey Trot Charity 5K.

Here are just a few examples of Y volunteers and associates, representing many more around the region, who are going out of their way, and perhaps out of their comfort zones, to help people “give cheerfully” so others can “accept gracefully.” In our case, not only are the givers and those helped blessed (as Maya Angelou said), but so too are we as a community and an organization for being a part of a virtuous cycle of giving.

Take a look:

Our Membership Director at the Y in Catonsville, Christine Salak, just secured a major Turkey Trot sponsorship from Musselman Dodge, along with another from the Catonsville Rotary of which she is a member and Christine is not done yet! Way to go Christine!

Y association Board volunteer Dana Smith has secured over $5,000 in Turkey Trot donations so far and is not stopping! She is well on her way to becoming our top Turkey Trot fundraiser as she was last year! The key to her success? Asking! Dana asks all her neighbors, local small businesses and more. She is truly passionate about serving children and families in Anne Arundel County and it shows!

​ Brian Brown is a personal trainer at the Y in Arnold who has made it his personal mission to not only help the members he works with get stronger physically, but spiritually too, by giving. He’s worked diligently with Annual Campaign Director Debra Einstein, Annual Campaign to hone his ability to make the ask. He encourages all his personal training customers to register but also suggests that if they can’t because they are traveling, they register anyway to help someone else.  Says Brian, “If you can’t participate, you may still help our efforts and help fund the annual campaign by simply paying for a registration.”

​Brian Mohler is a volunteer on the Northern Baltimore County Leadership Board. He has organized his own personal golf tournament happening today which raises funds for Turkey Trot and expects to raise about $1500-$1800 for the cause! Thank you Brian (and congratulations on picking an unbelievably nice day to be on the course!)

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Betty Squire at the Weinberg Y in Waverly has been the driving force behind team Turkey Trot at that Center! Every minute of the day, Betty is talking to her colleagues about potential sponsors, to her peers about registrations for race day, and members about both. She has gone out of her way to develop and nurture relationships to make an impact on the kids we raise funds to support. Says District Executive Director of City Operations James Weathers, “we truly value Betty and everything she does.  She has taken the lead on Turkey Trot from day one. We couldn’t do it without her!”

My heartfelt thanks go out to all these wonderful people and so many more around the association who have just taken the responsibility for our charitable mission as their own personal mission. We have four more days to go to secure sponsors for Turkey Trot and are within reach of our goal. I challenge each of you to take a page from the book of these dedicated people and give yourself the same kind of cheerful reward of which Maya Angelou wrote. Take a cue from Dana Smith’s playbook. Ask everyone you know for a sponsorship or donation this week. I think you will be amazed by the results and rewarded from the sheer joy of helping others.

If you have questions or need support in making an ask, please contact Debra Einstein at debraeinstein@ymaryland.org or Lindsay Crone at lindsaycrone@ymaryland.org.

Thank you!

All the best,

John

​John K. Hoey
President & CEO
The Y in Central Maryland