Motivation for the New Year

My dear friend Susan Fromm recently received an award and much deserved recognition for her long time volunteer efforts for the organization, Berks Women in Crisis.

In accepting her remarks she eloquently referenced the Conservancy's State of the Environment report. I'd like to share with you her inspirational remarks as motivation in the new year.

"Last month the Berks County Conservancy published their state of the environment report, and if I may, I'm going to borrow from it. The report said that we are all responsible for the state of the environment in Berks County and that if we all did just 3 little things each day, we could have a truly profound impact. Simple things like turning the lights off when leaving a room or walking to get the mail instead of driving or using a reusable grocery bag instead of one that's disposable. And if 1000 people did just 3 little things each day for a year it would amount to a million little things being done to improve the state of the environment. That's really big.

When Mary Kay (BWIC Executive Director Mary Kay Bernowski) called me last April to ask if I would accept this year's Vision for Peace award, I emphatically said no. It's not that I wasn't extremely flattered-and a little excited-at the prospect of being honored. It was more that I didn't feel that I had done anything grand enough to deserve the award. Michael and I have been giving financially to the agency for over 20 years, but we've never written that REALLY BIG check. And though I spent countless hours volunteering with the agency, I was never on the front line, doing the hard work, saving lives. But after reading the Conservancy report, it hit me. All of those years, and all of those hours, I had been doing the little things, and I guess they added up to something bigger.

As with the environment, we all share responsibility for the welfare of our community, and by getting a lot of people to do a lot of little things for organizations like BWIC, we can have a major impact on improving the lives of victims of violence, homelessness, hunger and other tragic circumstances for many years to come. Very few of us have the resources to write the REALLY BIG checks and most of us are spread too thin to give a TON of time. But it's fair to say that we can all find the time and resources to do the little things. And keep doing them.

Thank you for being here tonight. Tell your friends and family about the great work that Berks Women in Crisis is doing, everyday, right here in our community. Tell them to do the little things. And together we can achieve the Vision for Peace we all share. Thank you" - Susan Fromm