February 19, 2009

FGT board member happy with Bay area’s open giving

Something amazing happened at the Family Giving Tree this past holiday season, said FGT Boardmember David “Selly” Selinger, CEO for Rich Relevance, a software company.

“2008, was an incredibly challenging year for all of us. Yet, despite all of our challenges, San Jose and the Silicon Valley came together to create an amazing success. So many people in so many ways looked past all of the reasons not to give—and reached deep down inside to ensure the magic of the holiday for a child,” he told the Times.

Speaking at a meeting following this year’s successful giving season, Selinger noted that despite the economic crisis a huge number of people came together to help those less fortunate. “We saw our support base grow, people who were challenged at home but found ways to provide a gift, money or time to help out,” he said. “We transcended all dimensions of our community, crossing the boundaries of race, ethnicity and religion to achieve this communal accomplishment. But how and why?” he asked.

“As I spoke with our [corporate] partners in this success, I found a common thread that seemed to run through each of our stories. I found that in spite of all the adversity around, our virtues have become ever more important. Our belief in love, compassion, charity and hope have overcome all else and compelled us to give of our hearts. My heart told me there is something meaningful in this—and the deeper I dug, the more amazing I found the breadth and depth of this principle,” he said.

Looking at both the FGT’s fall backpack drive and the Christmas season, he noted that community members stepped up when it appeared that the nonprofit may not have been able to fulfill all requests. That people who had been laid off found the time and money to buy a gift from trees set up throughout the Bay Area.

The giving came across the donor base, he noted, with corporations also challenged by the economy, providing money, space and help. “I’ve never seen this before from corporate donors,” he said.

“Our partnerships throughout the community grew in almost every way possible. From our corporate sponsors, to our ‘giving tree hosts,’ to individual donors, to our volunteers, we saw incredible levels of engagement. Our corporate sponsors supported us at unprecedented levels—giving not only from the corporations, but through employees coming together personally to create a corporate contribution.

“Our host sponsors, grew their participation through creative ways, engaging not only employees, but frequently their customers and their partners—incorporating giving into their corporate culture as an element of client relations. Our volunteers, who through rain and shine worked long hours at the warehouse wrapping and sorting our gifts. And individual donors, who all gave what they could—from the thousands who gave a single gift, to those who could give more, we saw more individual donors than ever before. Each of these, every company, every parent who volunteered for a day and every individual donor, tells a story of teaching our children and setting an example for our community: the virtues of love, compassion, charity and hope are not negotiable.

“It’s so meaningful that people dug into their pockets to help this year.”

Selinger also noted that the recipients were pleased and excited and very thankful for their gifts. Some he said, touched his heart, noting they would have been happy with just a pair of shoes or an item of clothing, but when they also received a toy or something they were not expecting, were just thrilled.

As he put it in his speech, “the final partnership for all for us is the most important: the children. As always, the recipients and their families showed incredible gratitude for our programs and all of the love that came along with each and every gift. Every year, I’ve had a chance to meet with and see the look of joy in the eyes of the children as they receive their gifts. Every year, I re-double my commitment to the giving tree and our mission to fervently maintain giving as a core value of our community.”

—By Carol Rosen