Giving Back to your Community

Giving back to the community is a principal that was taught very early to me by my parents. In a small town you often see the community pull together to help keep it moving forward.

Since I left my hometown when I was 17 and off to college I've had the opportunity to live in two major metropolitan areas - Chicago and the Twin Cities.

I have been very impressed by how each large metropolitan area support so many charity events and causes that benefit so many in these communities.

This past weekend I attended two events to benefits things close to our family. On Friday night we attended the annual school carnival at my daughter's elementary school - Michael Dowling Urban Environmental School in Minneapolis. It was a great night to see all the students, parents and school staff mingle and share some fun and great conversation. We make it a point to attend every school fundraiser that we can. We know that the funds are going to help children and what could be more important than that.

On Saturday morning we attended the American Heart Association Start Walk event at Target Field in Minneapolis (picture above). Attended by over 10,000 walkers from all over the metro area it is so good to see the large health care organizations and financial institutions like U.S. Bank there to support the community. This is a cause close to us because our son has congenital heart disease and we truly appreciate all that AHA does to help find solutions.

Giving back to your community is important. And it doesn't what cause you support or give back just find a way to donate your time or money to help make your community better. It certainly makes our family feel better when we support our community.