Thursday, December 6, 2012Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2007. That particular day I went to Mattie's kindergarten class and read them a story called "The Gingerbread Baby." The main character in the story was named Mattie! In addition to the story I baked home made gingerbread cookies and brought frosting and other goodies into the classroom for the kids to decorate their cookies. As you can see Mattie brought his cookie home. Mattie was more interested in the design than the actual eating!
Quote of the day: Love built on pain-the kind that lasts: whatever you love can be taken away from us at any moment but the loss of what we love belongs to us forever. ~ Louise Doughty
I began my day by going to a Combined Federal Campaign training session. The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) is the only authorized charitable-giving drive for employees in the Federal workplace. Established by Executive Order in 1961, it continues to be the largest and most successful workplace fundraising model in the world. However, in order to be listed as a local charity with the CFC, the Foundation must apply each year. It isn't a renewal process each year which would make it much easier for us. Instead it is a full fledged application with multiple appendices required. In any case, the workshop I attended today was mandatory for 2013. Somehow the training wasn't as daunting this year since I went through it and the application process last December.
After this training session, I then found the courage necessary to walk into the post office with 500 envelopes to mail. The first thing I did when I walked into the Foundation Post Office was I looked for Darryle. Darryle is the amazing mail clerk who helps me. Thankfully he was there, because if he wasn't I would have walked right out the door. Why? Because what Darryle and I do together is a labor of love. Darryle hand cancels every envelope of mine, and while he does that, I use the post office first class stamper and mark each envelope. We have quite a system. However, you have to understand he isn't only helping me in the process. He is working with other customers so the line doesn't get unmanageable. Needless to say, it took Darryle and I an hour to stamp every single envelope. Most postal employees wouldn't put up with this. It is labor intensive. Yet Darryle supports our cause and is genuinely a compassionate person. I watched him help all sorts of customers for an hour. He loves his job, he loves people, and wants to make a difference. If only every employee in the workplace felt this way. Taking pride in one's job and feeling good about helping someone are gifts.
While I was at the mail counter stamping and stacking envelopes, I naturally called attention to myself. It is HARD to hide 500 envelopes. So I struck up conversations with many, many customers about the Foundation. It was actually a very rewarding 60 minutes. You would have thought people waiting on line at the post office would have been furious with me. But they weren't. They were intrigued by what I was doing and with Darryle balancing them and me, it made for a calm atmosphere. This year the Foundation gave Darryle several gifts. He was beeming ear to ear that we thought of him and tomorrow I am submitting a formal commendation letter to the post office for Darryle. To me remarkable, loving, and special people need to be called out and recognized.
After working with me an hour today, he wasn't tired at all! Instead, he asked me when my next mass mailer was scheduled for. Darryle feels we are a good team, and is ready to help. I basically asked him if there was a better way for me to do this, rather than coming in and dumping all these envelopes in front of him. His response was NO! He told me I was super organized, and proceeded to tell me how others have approached such a mass mailer. He told me they come to the counter without address labels or the correct postage. As Darryle knows, he and I work on this in stages. I bring him a sample envelope to weigh two weeks before the mass mailing. I purchase all the stamps ahead of time, therefore by the time the mailing gets to Darryle it has all its labels and stamps on it. Yet despite all that prep work, there is still more to do at the post office. Tasks can be challenging and daunting, but the attitudes of people you work with can make it or break for you. Working with someone like Darryle is energizing, because he feels he is indirectly helping to raise money for childhood cancer, and doesn't look at the mass mailer as a chore.
This evening I attended a jewelry party. My friend Heidi introduced me to her neighbor, Jen. Jen has been very kind and consults with Peter and I on occasion about Foundation Fundraising. Jen's boss happens to design jewelry (http://taylormadegems.com/) and tonight a portion of the sales went to the Foundation. I was thrilled to see so many women buying jewelry. But more importantly I appreciated the camaraderie of my friends Heidi and Tina who were there. Social situations, which are not directly Foundation related, are no longer easy for me. Especially when they involve groups of moms. So having two people who I knew around was very helpful to me and so appreciated.
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