Give More Than You Receive

Sunday February 17, 2006: The Omaha Boys and Girls Club



This morning most of us slept in, did homework, wrote on our blogs, got a workout or walked to the Old Market area for lunch. Whatever the morning held for us, a big group of us who signed up to do volunteer work in Omaha met downstairs in the Courtyard Marriott's lobby at 12:30 to divide ourselves into our volunteer task groups.



Forty or so of us went to Girls Inc, and another forty of us piled into cabs and rental cars for the short journey out to the Girls and Boys Club of The Midlands, Omaha club (http://www.bgcomaha.org/) while a smaller team headed out for the United Way.



We were driving over to help the Boys and Girls Club with some physical tasks like organizing equipment and cleaning storage space but also some mental and creative work like helping them with their annual report and developing a curriculum for a financial literacy outreach program. We have been very impressed by Mr. Buffett's record of giving and community involvement here in Omaha and elsewhere- who hasn't heard of his enormous gift of $31 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation? Though a small contribution, we hoped that volunteering in Mr. Buffett's community would help show our appreciation for his generous invitation to our group and would make a difference at the Boys and Girls Club, the United Way and Girls Inc.



Following are some of Warren Buffets' thoughts (but not mandates) about how he felt his late wife's Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and those of other family members should be run:



-Focus on relatively few activities that can make an important difference.

-Concentrate on the needs that would not be met without your assistance.

-Consider working with your siblings on important projects.

-Pay attention to your home community, but favor a broader view.

-Expect to make mistakes. Nothing will be accomplished if you always walk the safe path



(source: Warren Buffett Speaks- Wit and Wisdom From the World's Greatest Investor by Janet Lowe, 2007)



Today at the Boys and Girls Club we learned so much about the valuable work that organization does, by providing a safe, warm and nurturing space where kids can be kids and where children and teens can come after school to get help on homework, get a hot meal, do an art project, play sports or even strive for a number of college scholarships. Boys and Girls Clubs are typically located in neighborhoods of need, where both parents (if the home still has both parents) work all day and kids are especially vuluerable between the time school gets out and the time parents get home from work.

The Club in Omaha, for many kids, is like a home away from home where they can always relax, study hard, make friends or just find enough space in their own heads to have a little breathing room. The Boys and Girls Club, from President/CEO Fred Schott through to operations director Tom Kunkel and his staff, is an organization with a mission to directly help the local community and to make sure that their neighborhood kids stay safe (there evidently is difficulty with two rival gangs in the area), stay out of drugs, and are able to live up to the expectations for personal excellence communicated by the Boys and Girls Club environment.



Oh, and we cleaned out some closets and developed some annual reports too.



But, clearly, aside from burning a few calories cleaning out the dust bunnies, we all were impressed by how professionally run, how well-organized and how very dedicated the Boys and Girls Club of the Midlands is to "their kids." CEO Fred Schott is not only a top executive in the organization- he is a Boys and Girls Club alum who "grew up" at a Boys and Girls Club and who credits that early support system, which eventually lead to a full-ride college scholarship, with where he is today. We gained new perspective into the mind of a non-profit CEO who challenged us all to do what we do not for your potential salary, but for your passion.



Thanks Boys and Girls Club of The Midlands- the few hours we spent working with you are very small when compared to the inspiration you showed us.



(Many thanks go to Gretchen Bernheim for organizing the volunteer trip to the B&G Club.)