Everyday Philanthropist

What is an Every day Philanthropist ? ... What a Philanthropist for that matter .... When we think of a Philanthropist, we tend to immediately think of the the Big Hitters... Bill Gates, Oprah, Bono... all great examples of people that have given for the purpose of helping others... but what about the true Everyday Philanthropist At PI , that person is defined as "a person who daily gives of their time, energy, passion and resources to help fulfill the simple dreams of the hurting, helpless and hopeless." It is easy for us to sit back and think that helping others and reaching out is the job of the Big hitters... and one day we may have a Big hitter or two that would like to get behind what we do, but let me tell you, I have no grand illusion that we are going to Change the world, PI is not going to wipe out the debt of the third world... and we are not going to eradicate malaria... but what I believe we can do is to raise up a nation of everyday Philanthropists that do change the world ...One Day at a Time..One person at a time, and one Dream at a time.... People that realize that $10, $50 or $100 in the Wright hands is enough to change a life....

I can remember a long time ago , before PI was even dreamed or imagined a very moving time for me... Every Parent worries about their kids.. Are they going to be OK ... Have I as a parent instilled in them the true values in life... Our Son Benjamin was home from college and was out with us .. Some one came to him and slipped him $100 .. as soon as he got into the car he said to us " I can't wait to see who I am going to be able to bless with this money" ... for him the greatest blessing was that he was given the means and ability to reach out to help some one else...

Saturday we heard about another special young man named Calvin. Calvin has a special connection to Central Asia... he is waiting for his sibling to come home one day .

Calvin was celebrating his 5th birthday, and all he could focus on was a desire to make the day special... for an orphan in Central Asia... Calvin has been following our blog ...mostly because of his families connection to the work we do, and he knew that we will be going back next month...... Calvin's asked that his guests would please give him donations toward a special day for the children of one of the orphanages we work with... Skating , bowling, circus... it did not matter to him, what mattered was that they their lives were touched, and that they know that there are people out there that care, but more importantly that as they grow up, they will have some good memories....

We had the honor of calling Calvin on Skype during his party, and being there to sing Happy birthday to him ... in our best Russian no less...

I believe that Calvin , like my son Benjamin... "Gets it"

to date Calvin has raised $200 to help us bring a special day ... to a more then deserving group of orphans... it's not too late to donate to Calvin's special day... you can help raise his totals by using the donate button on this blog, and in the memo box, indicate Calvin's Day , and you will help make memories ....