The Swartz Report: It’s Time To Give Thanks

Don SwartzPost written by Donald Swartz, President and Principal at Swartz + Associates, Inc. | Lover of Chiefs, Royals and golf | Avid “Cruiser” | Poker Enthusiast

With the Thanksgiving holiday in the air, we all take a few minutes to reflect on things for which we are thankful. In my family, we write notes with the things we are thankful for before we sit down for our Thanksgiving meal.

After dinner, we go around the table reading others’ notes and try to guess which person wrote each note. We can list one thing or several different things we’re thankful for….whatever feels right.

Often it relates to family, good health, the World, or the country we live in, but it always involves complete participation. The tone is usually light.  Some of the notes this year might include things like, “I’m thankful for the Royals winning the World Series”, “I’m thankful for parades and celebrations”, or “I’m thankful the Iowa Hawkeyes are allowing us to screw up our New Year’s Day plans of sitting at home in the Midwest cold and instead going to the Rose Bowl or Bowl Championship Final Four!” (Hey, a person can certainly dream).

Speaking of participation, I’m again thankful to be a part of the Advisory Board for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kansas City (RMHCKC). At our last meeting we discussed the opening of the newest House earlier this year. The Wylie House is the 3rd house in the RMHC “campus” for families. Even with the opening of the Wylie House, RMHCKC still hasn’t been able to provide a room for every family throughout the year as needs exceed the capacity of the houses.

RMHCKCThankfully, we live in a community that cares enough to give. So many people support the mission to reduce the burden of childhood illness on children and their families by providing a “home away from home” while the children are receiving medical care in Kansas City-area hospitals.

The mission is the same throughout the country and throughout the world as evidenced by a video we watched at our last meeting. Please click on the attached video below to see how easy it is to make a difference in the lives of others. This video won 1st place in the recent international meeting of RMHC chapters. Childhood illness does not discriminate as it affects families in every town, city, state and country…

So I’ve got a challenge for you this holiday season: Every time you go to a McDonald’s drive thru, leave your change behind. This simple act of kindness will forever change the life of a family and for that, we should all be thankful.

Vsit www.rmhc.org to learn more about the local chapter in your area.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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