A Surefire New Year’s Resolution

You and your family members have probably made New Year’s resolutions. Maybe you’re keeping them a secret so no one knows when you fall short. Or maybe you’ve told at least one person so you can be held accountable.

Have you given up on setting lofty goals and expecting big changes from yourself? Are you tired of getting to the end of every year, looking back and wondering if you made much of a positive impact on others?

The employees at Zappos.com Shoe Outlet in Shepherdsville, located about 12 miles from our headquarters in Mount Washington, don’t have to wonder about that. They arrived in a Penske truck on Dec. 21 and unloaded more than 60 boxes of donated clothing, bedding, toys, books and toiletries. They also threw in a stack of gift cards. Workers started the charity drive a month earlier because they told me “Christmas is about kids.” We feel very blessed by the donations, which will go to children and teens in our residential centers and foster homes across the state.

One of the employees helping with the delivery shared that she had watched as our Ministry Support Center administrative building and Spring Meadows Center for adolescent boys were being constructed. Sometimes, she said, she would drive up the hill to check out what was going on in her community. Then when the time to give came, she took the initiative to call us and see if we could use what she and her co-workers had collected.

She didn’t hear about Sunrise’s needs by reading our newsletter or visiting our Web site. She simply paid attention and asked. It’s grass-roots efforts like these that transform communities. And all it takes is one person pausing not to think about her own life but about whether someone else needs something, then caring enough to take action.

When you’re driving through your community this year, look around and try to notice the needs. You can’t help everyone, but you could help just one – maybe a church, maybe an after-school program, maybe a food bank, maybe a homeless shelter or maybe a Sunrise location near you.
If you don’t know where to find Sunrise, give us a call at (800) 456-1386, e-mail info@sunrise.org or visit our Web site. I’m sure one of our locations isn’t far from you at all.