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| First Person |
A Gamble that Keeps Paying
Bill Cullen
05/03/2004
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An independent
committee of the foundation determines how money will be allocated. I might give
input, but the decision of whom to support is strictly up to the panel, which
uses a template of 17 criteria honed by experience. However, I am the main
fund-raiser. My company provides the office space and supplies, and I use my
connections to pull in more donors. They know if I ask, I am not asking them to
do something I haven’t done. I also solicit sponsors to underwrite the costs of
fund-raising events, so that every penny we raise goes to the children’s
programs.
We are now looking into an affiliation with Girls and Boys Town in
the United States. Boys Town was started by Father Edward Flanagan from County
Roscommon in Ireland. We expect to have the connections in place in the next
year or two. The Girls and Boys Town organization, started in 1917, has spread
to 14 states, and a national hot line offers help to troubled children and
parents. Having Father Flanagan’s successful creation come back to his homeland
would be wonderful.
It is the sharing that makes life worthwhile. My mother
always shared, like the time I won a Christmas hamper filled with goodies. The
Ma took out the turkey—it was the first time we ever had turkey—and invited the
neighbors to help themselves to everything else. When any mothers in the
neighborhood went into the maternity hospital, one of the other ladies always
moved into her house and looked after the household until the mother came home.
Caring and sharing. I like to think I still have that today, because I’ve
learned that the more you give, the more comes back to you. Photo courtesy of Andy Murray, Renault
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