The Good and The Sad

 The Good

We should be grateful there are people who just cannot stop being gracious and generous.  Oddly the information world would indicate that the world is dominated by those who are narcissistic, greedy, selfish, and unkind. 

I attended an event last week in Los Angeles to honor and celebrate the 40th anniversary of the “No Kid Hungry” campaign by Share Our Strength (NoKidHungry.org).  Share Our Strength is the brilliant philanthropic creation of Billy Shore and his sister Debbie Shore with the support of Rosemary Shore and a cast of dedicated people like Kathleen Pollenzani.  This spectacular evening was to recognize their many philanthropic supporters and to pay tribute to Jeff Bridges, Alicia Moore (Pink) and Brooke Williamson who have dedicated time, treasure and talent in support of this worthy project.  The United States has approximately 16 million children who are food insecure, which is a polite way of saying they do not receive proper nutrition.  It is not a case of lack of food as the U.S. has plenty.  It is the lack of political will.   CEO, Anne Filipic, set the tone for the evening.  She is an engaging speaker, demanding your attention while remaining energetic, warm and articulate.  Her ability to hold the audience’s attention was the key to her critical message.   My favorite address is always delivered by Billy Shore.  I would attend these events just to hear his stories.  He, Rosemary, and son, Nate, are the key characters in his warm and meaningful stories that hold your focus while he delivers his message of the importance of his organization.  The punch line to this evening’s sweet story of a young Nate’s living room camping experience –-- knocking on his parent’s bedroom door he tells them…………………………………..                      “I can’t do this alone.”

It is, of course, the perfect lead line to describe the efforts of Share Our Strength.  We all have our strengths but equally our weaknesses. We are better as a team than we are alone.  I have written a book about the need to be vulnerable when building relationships but that comes with the equal need to be empathetic and exacting in your follow up and listening skills. No Kid Hungry is all about marshalling the forces of a diverse group of people to extract the political will from governing bodies to take the risk of doing the right thing for those that “can’t do it alone”.  We all need help along the way.  Regardless of the black and white message you hear from the Fox News talking heads or this current administration, the world is a complicated place and the problems we face are just that ---complicated!.  Learning to compromise and collaborate are key skills needed to solve the immense array of issues we face on a daily basis.  Finding the answer to complicated problems takes the effort of a broad set of people and skills.  Share Our Strength is a model for just that kind of work. 

The Sad

This event was held in Beverly Hills.   Beverly Hills is clean, organized and downright pleasant to experience.  Not two miles away to the east and to the west the world is entirely different.  As far as you can see there is the charred remains and solitary chimneys of the thousands of homes that used to make up communities that were beautiful, unique, and home to many families.  Home to tens of thousands who retreated to their homes at the end of the day to discuss the good and sad of the day.  To regroup, enjoy a meal, rest and head out to meet the challenges of yet another complicated day.  The Los Angeles fires scraped away all semblance of comfort and warmth those homes provided.  The immense difficulties that millions of people face everyday are muted by distance.  It doesn’t take much distance either.  But if you are sitting in the middle of what the fires left the need for help is a stark reality of the fragility of the world.  Governance is not a corporation.  Governing and running a company are two entirely different institutions with different goals.  Let us not be confused, governing is a supportive activity that provides help and protection when needed for all.  Corporations produce products and make money for a limited group.  They do not need to help unless they choose to.  Sitting at my table at this wonderful event the conversation was all about helping and how to keep the ephemeral memories focused on those that need help.  Understand that when you do not need help it is important to give help. It is sad and there is plenty of it and the solution is still political will.

I will remember my evening at the No Kid Hungry event because it assures me that there are many people who can help and want to help.  They have a true understanding that the pendulum of life swings from good to sad and back ---- passing through equilibrium.  I want to be associated with and look for people who understand the meaning of good governance and are willing to help when asked and understand that I may need help because….

 “I can’t do it alone”