'Superheroes' of Giving Back!

Thanks for checking out my latest article.?I’ve been writing about various themes to do with giving in support of ‘Beds for Bombo’ – an exciting and important project for the children that attend one of the Children of Hope schools in Uganda. ?So far, we’ve raised enough to fund 18 of the 150 families we are aiming to help.?We’re on our way – and I’m incredibly grateful for your support!

'Superheroes' of Giving Back

I’ve been asked a couple of times over the past couple of weeks if I thought LinkedIn was an appropriate place to talk about charitable giving and the funding of philanthropic projects.?My answer without question – it is.

In fact, I think business leaders should talk more about how they give back when they’re fortunate enough to be able to do so.?Here’s my personal story that I hope provides a bit of context for how I think about giving.

I was incredibly fortunate to work for business leaders over my career that talked about giving back and shared their stories.?They had more influence over me than they know. ?I have a few heroes when it comes to this area.?

Back when I was in my twenties, I worked for Bill Penney at Barnet Banks in Florida (eventually it became part of Bank of America). Bill defines what it means to be a community leader – he has always been passionate about giving back to his community. ?I’m not sure he would remember but he signed me up for a civic leadership program.?On the program we spent time with several not-for-profit organisations, learning how they supported the community and the individuals they served.?We visited charities for sure – but we also visited places like a corrections facility where inmates were in a program preparing for release.?The program set a foundation that I didn’t quite realise at the time.?I had a broader perspective how not-for-profits filled gaps in the lives of everyday people.?Little did I know but Bill was preparing me to think about giving back right at the start of my career.

From there, my career took me to Atlanta and then Toronto.?I was incredibly fortunate to work at TD Canada Trust.?Ed Clark was the CEO and an incredibly inspirational leader.?Ed is awesome – he has never shied away from talking about giving back.?He is an incredible supporter of the United Way (for my UK friends, the United Way is a force in North America for giving back to your community).?I can remember him talking about giving during the financial crisis (remember Occupy Wall Street – the Other 99%?).?He was clear there was a message that we needed to listen to – that the way things were being done wasn’t working for many, many people.?In his words, Ed said "what you do with your pay matters”.?He made me think differently – that the impact of giving made a difference in the world.?His solution to career success leading to financial abundance was to work on the imbalance in society by giving back.?And it wasn’t just Ed at TD that inspired me - I worked with such an awesome group of leaders at TD that made giving back part of their ethos – Tim Hockey, Mike Pedersen, Tom Dyck, Chuck Hounsell – and I could go on and on.?In many ways, these folks are still my role models. If you've worked with them, then you just know. It was special.

Nick Saul at The Stop Community Food Centre in Toronto was another milestone on my giving back journey.?Nick taught me about hunger in the community and what food security and nutritional equality for people was all about – and the tie they had to poverty.?He was incredibly passionate about people and community – and their connection to food and nutrition.?I was able to help lead a capital campaign for building a community food centre with Nick.?It was Nick’s vision that inspired people and rallied their support to do something amazing.?Out of a subway / train depot, the most amazing community space was created.?It showed me what was possible if you could rally people around a big idea.

The final philanthropic superhero that has had a huge influence on the way I think about giving back was Scott Harrison of Charity: Water.?He tells his story in his book Thirst.?I can’t recommend it enough.?I was fortunate enough to hear Scott speak at a TD Bank event where I was a host in 2011 – we were celebrating colleagues being recognised for their exceptional professional performance.?In typical TD fashion, one of our guest speakers was focused on giving back.?Scott told his story and by the time he was done, we all wanted to help change the world.?Scott makes you think bigger – about a broader world – and how you can change peoples’ lives thousands of miles away.

All of this has influenced the way I approach giving back.?I am fortunate and I am very grateful for that.?When I look at my giving over the past years, all the influences above have helped me be more strategic when giving back.?

I’m in the middle of my tax prep at the moment.?It’s fascinating to see the areas of focus as I organise our records from the past year.?What my family feels passionate about is reflected in our giving.?Here’s what I see:

• Education and support of children and families in my community - and in Africa.
• Support for sport for children in my community.
• Support for environmental issues that are important to me.
• Support for the British Red Cross relief for Ukraine.
• Support for folks in my community who are dealing with cancer.
• Support for folks in my community who are dealing with mental health challenges.
• Support for medical research and support related to colleagues whose children are living with challenging medical conditions.

We're aiming to make a difference for Rashida, Yobu, Yazid and family - part of our Bombo community.        

The common thread across my areas of focus is impact.?I want my funds to make a difference. They are all causes I feel strongly about.?In fact, I think about them as investments – not charity.?Those investments are building something bigger.

I’d invite you to think about making an impact with your giving that will change people’s lives.?In one sense, it feels right to give back when you can.?In another sense, it is strangely selfish.?I’m serious when I say modest amounts can change peoples’ lives.?That feeling is like nothing you can experience any other way.

If your circumstances allow, I’d love for you to join me in changing some lives with Children of Hope and our Bed for Bombo project.?I promise you will see first-hand what proving a good night’s sleep means to the children in our schools.

Here’s the link to donate:?https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/bedsforbombo

If you’re interested, my other articles can be found by clicking this link:?https://www.dhirubhai.net/post/new/published/