Reflections during the Last Week of 2019
There is a lot of white space on the office calendar during the week between Christmas and New Year’s. In some ways, we have more time without back-to-back site visits, client conversations, and committee meetings. This is actually a great opportunity to catch up on paperwork and, of course, write thank you letters and process last-minute year-end stock gifts and checks. The Accounting Department is sending out the final batch of grants for 2019 as well.
I like that there is time to reflect on the year that is ending and to think ahead to 2020. Although the news is full of political and trade stories, and other worries, real and imagined, I look forward to the future we will share together with enduring optimism and intentional planning.
This year, I am reminded of an article that one of our board members shared with me as 2012 was coming to a close about James Carrigg, longtime chairman, CEO, and President of New York State Electric and Gas Corporation. Mr. Carrigg told a story about how he and other community and business leaders worked to improve the labs and facilities at Binghamton University. He termed the task of raising the money and getting approvals from various constituencies as “mission impossible.” What resonated the most with me was his description of a defining moment in the fundraising process when everyone involved was feeling pessimistic.
He said, “Let’s not be too hasty. The future is not something we enter, but something we create.”That was the moment when the community team and the academic team banded together to take on the skeptics. In 2019 the Community Foundation, along with many partners and supporters, took on “mission impossible” to build the Village on Sage Street. We banded together and accomplished a major feat that is improving lives in Reno. We are creating the future, and we can and will do even more.