FOCUS ON FIVE: What Sustains Us?
By Rochelle Lefkowitz
Ashby Village Board member and
Communications Team Leader
In keeping with our 2015 Theme of Stewardship, for this second Focus on Five column I reached out to the Development Committee to learn about our Founders Fund, a new vehicle for sustaining Ashby Village. (Read the first Focus on Five article about What Defines Us.)
Co-chair Pat Sakai told me that when she and Development Committee member Martin Paley addressed the Program Leadership Team (PLT) recently, they all talked about how, as stewards of Ashby Village, our next step is to develop a Culture of Philanthropy.
Fortunately, that’s just a short hop from what we already have: a vibrant Culture of Giving.
All of us in Ashby Village—members, volunteers, staff, partners, and donors— already contribute to the give and take of our warm, fast-growing community.
Whether what we give is our time, to fix a fence or drive a member to get groceries, skills, as retired communications, accounting, legal or IT professionals, attention, to each other’s transitions and challenges, or financial support, we’re not simply folks who sign up, but people who sign on to play an active role.
A few weeks ago, at the 7th National Village to Village Network annual conference in Seattle, I heard one keynoter, Edgar Cahn, a former speechwriter for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and promoter of time banking (who’s now 80 and speaks movingly, without any notes!) refer to building a hybrid economy—part U.S. currency, part time banking and it hit home for me.
We’ve built Ashby Village with volunteering. That’s how we provide the services through which we support each other and nourish our community. Alongside that, another powerful way to sustain our Village is an annual gift. For an inspiring example of one generous donor to Ashby Village, see the story of Cece Hurwich in this issue of the Newsletter. I’m proud to report 100% of our Board and Development Committee have already made a commitment to support The Founders Fund this year.
Ashby Village Co-Founders Shirley Haberfeld and Patrica Sussman
Our new Founders Fund replaces our annual fund. The Founders Fund offers us – and our friends and neighbors, present and former workplaces, family foundations and family members – a chance to thank our co-founders Patricia Carson Sussman and Shirley Haberfeld and the many others who helped form our Village.
We have no building, so giving to the Founders Fund isn’t about getting your name on a plaque, but, in keeping with our self-help model, it’s to honor our roots and give us wings. In other words, it’s about sustaining Ashby Village (all gifts to Ashby Village’s Founders Fund are tax-deductible and 10% of each unrestricted donation goes to fund those who want to but cannot afford to join us) for the coming year and far into the future!
Keep an eye out for an envelope in the next few weeks, or Donate here if you’d like to give now.
We’re all so passionate about Ashby Village. Write us about what inspires you to give to the Founder’s Fund and we’ll share some of your most moving stories.