I’m on crutches for the first time in my life. I tell people that it was a sports injury but between you and me I did it bowling. Torn Achilles tendon (yeah I get that look from everyone I tell). But that’s merely the setup. What I did want to write about is my continual amazement at our resiliency to adjust when facing a setback. My immediate schedule is a mess, I’m missing some important meetings and I won’t be able to drive for about 2 months. But in about 2 days I have accomodated just about all of my schedule until the end of the year. Now that isn’t without a whole lot of help from family, friends, and colleagues but it wasn’t an insurmountable problem. I’m sure there will be many minor challenges in the coming weeks, but I’m confident that they will all be adequately addressed.
It’s not unlike how the community foundation is dealing with the economy right now. We didn’t anticipate this significant of a downturn, but we were prepared for it. We have a solid gameplan for the foundation and tools in place to react to the market fluctuations, but our real power is the organizational mindset to react to opportunities and challenges that hit us without warning.
Our priority is two-fold: to provide a consistent and strategic resource for our community in time of need through grants and scholarships AND to protect our endowment so we can adequately face future opportunities and challenges. The impact of current economic trends is yet to be fully realized, and you can count on the community foundation to make smart and calculated decisions on how best to accomplish our priorities.
My reliance on crutches will end as will this economic mess.
