I was thinking about this study when we held the Dallas Jewish Community Foundation’s (DJCF) Scholarship reception in May. What an evening; 38 students received awards from 26 scholarship endowment funds. During the reception, as well as before and after the event, not even one of our scholarship funders wondered whether their generosity made a difference. Not only were they committed to the Foundation’s programs; they were able to shake hands with the young person whose future they helped secure.

Making a difference is what we’re all about. College scholarships, sure, but that’s just the start. How about helping young couples who are having trouble conceiving a child, sending kids to summer camp, preschool scholarships and assisting seniors in paying their dues at the “J.” We’ve arranged a guide dog for a visually challenged individual, created a fund to support our returning area veterans and even established legacy gifts for our community’s future that now total $180 million.

The list goes on and on, but they all share one thing … all of these efforts are making a real difference, positively impacting someone’s life.

 

I’m sure the researcher’s who came up with the 1 in 5 statistic gathered their appropriate data, but it just doesn’t apply to the DJCF; if they had talked with just one of our fund holders, the results may have come out very differently.

Making a difference is what we do together, every day.

 

A final note. This is my first blog for the Foundation; I look forward to sharing more information and opinions with you very soon. From time to time, we will also feature guest bloggers. Thanks for your support.