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At the university, giving blessings is not part of my job description, and while my students may sometimes accuse me of being “preachy,” I didn’t think I was particularly adept at delivering a blessing before an event.
So, I had to think hard about the appropriate things to say. In an attempt to be helpful, one person in our office reassured me by saying that I shouldn’t worry because I can just Google www.prayer.com.
I resisted the temptation to Google and instead reflected on my understanding of the WCF.
I have served on its board for two years and am now the secretary of the executive committee. My relatively short exposure to the foundation taught me that at its core, a community foundation is a vehicle to do good for the community through philanthropic acts — both big and small. Through such a foundation, all of us have the opportunity to provide for specific and general needs of the community — even in perpetuity.
People entrust a part of their hard-earned assets for any number of reasons — to honor the memory of a loved one, to respond to a specific need, to support a community initiative, and sometimes, to simply give back.
Whatever the reason for giving, the overarching motivation is that the benefits go back to the local population and that the quality of life is improved in good measure for some or all of the community’s members. As for the WCF’s board members, it is precisely because we are being entrusted by many people with their hard-earned assets and because we are aware of the tremendous potential for a community foundation to do good, we take our roles as guardians of the WCF very seriously.
As I began to formulate a blessing, I reflected on why so many individuals I meet in Winona are so open and generous and how the WCF’s assets rose from a few thousand to more than $10 million in a relatively short period of time. And this is the blessing I was inspired to give:
“More than 180 years ago, the French writer Alexis de Tocqueville wrote of American exceptionalism after he studied democracy in the United States. While the term American exceptionalism has sometimes been used in arrogant and less charitable ways, I ask that this evening we think of what is truly admirable about America. Let us be reminded that the American experiment is not an experiment in arrogance, self-righteousness or selfishness. Rather let us be mindful that what is exceptional about the American experiment is that in this country and in this society we have found a way to balance our public and private interests, our exercise of liberty, with our commitment to equality and our individualism with our responsibility to the community.
“Community foundations all over the United States, much like the Winona Community Foundation, are institutions that reflect the good side of American exceptionalism. Community foundations provide the perfect complement to the individualism that we so value and reward in our society. Through our participation in a community foundation, we can, together, provide for the advancement of public interests, bring a measure of equality to those less fortunate and work to serve our own community.
“So this evening, let us dine well and celebrate fully. Indeed, let us give thanks for our many individual and community blessings. But above all, let us remember to celebrate our sense of community, our shared purpose and our commitment to the diverse groups that are all part of this exceptional American experiment.
“God bless us, God bless Winona, and God bless America.”
Manrique is the Winona State University Director of Outreach and Continuing Education, a professor of economics and finance and a Winona Community Foundation board member.
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