What Gives Us Hope

“What gives us hope?”…That was the introduction on a pledge request that my best friend emailed me a few days ago with a reminder that it was “Giving Tuesday.” The request was from The Hope Partnership for Education, www.hopepartnershipforeducation.org a middle school and adult education center located near Temple University in Philadelphia, and I filled out the required information, made my pledge and clicked the ‘donate now’ button. Done. But it wasn’t. Within the hour, the development director of the organization called to personally thank me and to talk about the work they do for the children and adults who come there with hopes that are far removed from mine…Their hopes are not that the Nintendo Classic Game System is still available online, or that no one buys them a pair of jeans that are the size they wore 10 years ago. Instead, they hope for an opportunity to experience the success that comes with earning a diploma, learning how to use MS Word, writing a resume that gets them an interview…

So my remembered and renewed hope for our great National Association of African Americans in Human Resources is that we serve ourselves through our spirit of reciprocity, that we connect with our communities more with our deeds than our words, and that we continue to demonstrate our diversity through our commitment to Unity, Self-determination, Collective Work & Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity, and Faith.

Here’s to a peaceful and hope-filled 2017!