By Dolores Fabiano
Friday, August 17, 2012
When we think about the reasons we all give to the United Way of South Niagara or any other charity, each of us has very personal, unique reasons for giving.
In the end, however, almost everyone who has given to the United Way of South Niagara (UWSN) can offer up the same answer to the statement:
“I give because …”
We give because Peter told us to. Peter, of course, is retired UWSN executive director Peter Papp and it’s because of his influence that many of our donors do give.
I use the word influence here because it’s the most politically correct way to describe Peter’s way of doing business, but I don’t think it’s any great surprise that at his retirement party one of the words used to describe him was ‘Sopranos’.
I’m sure (mostly sure) that Peter isn’t going to send out some ‘family’ to take care of anyone who doesn’t give to UWSN, but his influence is pretty strong.
He’s a hard guy to say no to.
Although no one has said it out loud, publicly, I’m certain there have been one or two campaign chairs or committee volunteers who wound up wondering how in the heck they ended up giving their time to the UWSN and surely there are a few people out there who, when their bank statements came in, wondered how exactly they were inspired to give so generously.
Persuasive is definitely in Peter’s skill set.
Yes. “Peter told me to” is most definitely the most popular answer to the question, “why do you give?”
Of course I’m kidding (mostly), but this isn’t all that far off from the truth.
Peter’s ability to inspire people, with his genuine interest in this community, is a large part of why people do give.
Not really because Peter told them to but because Peter inspired them to.
Peter’s ability to connect with people, and inspire folks to act will be missed at the UWSN.
Peter’s biggest attributes are his compassion and generous spirit and those attributes are why people not only act but aspire to Peter’s philanthropic spirit.
He is just an all around great guy and we wish him all the best in his retirement, knowing full well that “Peter told me to” is going to continue to be a reason to give.
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