Twice a month, editors Susan McDermott and Alison Hankey share the latest details of what the Nonprofit Community Team is working on to help you navigate your career as a nonprofit professional. This time around, in honor of Father’s Day, Susan would like to share a little bit about how her own charitable story was inspired by her dad.
Why do people give? For most people, the reasons fall into one or more of the following categories:
• Personal Experience.
• They want to make a difference.
• They want to do something active about a problem or take a stand on a particular issue.
• They are motivated by personal recognition and benefits.
• Giving is a good thing to do.
In my case, it was a little bit of each one.
My father, George McDermott, passed away on March 24, 2000 from brain cancer. It was a shocking and horrible thing, but also filled with many beautiful moments of love and togetherness.
After he passed, my mother, sisters, brothers-in-law, and I felt compelled to do something: raise money for cancer research, raise awareness for his particular type of cancer, and try our best to keep his memory alive and well. Since “The Big Guy” was all about family and celebration, we decided to host a memorial sports outing in his honor.
We started in 2001 with a golf outing and family picnic and morphed slowly through the years into a softball outing that included participants of all ages. As the years went by, we were joined by old friends, new friends, and more babies than we could count. People travelled from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Massachusetts, and as far away as Oregon and California to share the day with us. They rented buses and wore costumes and brought with them boundless energy and enthusiasm.
Thanks to the incredible and seemingly endless generosity of monetary donations, raffle prizes, ideas, spirit, encouragement, and general good will, the outing exceeded our expectations year after year.
While the main goal of the day was always to get together and celebrate my dad’s memory, we also honored him by making a donation to the John Wayne Cancer Institute. George was a huge fan of The Duke, so it just made sense. Together, we raised more than $80,000 for cancer research. This was an amazing accomplishment, and something we could not have done without each and every one of our friends and family.
We ended the outing after 10 years, but will always keep the memory of George McDermott in our hearts. He has six grandchildren now that he never got the chance to meet—but we see parts of him and his personality in each one of them.
Happy Father’s Day, Dad. I miss you every day.
As nonprofit professionals, you are already intimately involved in your organization’s mission. But in your private lives, why do you give? We’d love to hear from you.
