Keeping Close to the Purpose October 20, 2009

I had an unexpectedly great day today.  I took a road trip with a colleague to visit one of our clients, Camp Hill Special School in Glenmoore, PA.  The drive itself was lovely. It's been a perfect fall day in Pennsylvania; cool air with warm sunshine filtering through the newly turning foliage.  Rolling hills, pristine farmland. Stunning. Then we arrived at Camp Hill Special School.  I was expecting a traditional school building with classrooms and students, but instead was treated to a verdant campus filled with small, homey buildings. Special students walking hand-in-hand with teachers, gardens, chickens, and beauty everywhere.

The mission of the Camp Hill Special School is "to create wholeness for children and youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities through education and therapy in extended family living so that they may be better understood and their disabilities moderated, that they may more fully unfold their potential, and that they more fully and meaningfully participate in life."

My brief tour of the campus and my interactions with the staff there indicate that they are living this mission to the fullest.

We had our meeting, talked about how GiftWorks can help them achieve their goals, and I left feeling energized and renewed in a deep way.  Helping organizations like Camp Hill Special School become stronger is what I want to do. It's the purpose of GiftWorks and all our efforts.

We are all so busy and have so much to do day-in and day-out.  Today I had the luxury of stepping out of the usual and remembering why I do this work and how important it is.  Tomorrow may be back to the regular busyness, but I expect it will be with an extra spring in my step and smile on my face.