Making an Impact:
In celebration of our 40th Anniversary, we are enjoying spending time with residents who have been long involved with the Foundation. Recently, LTF sat down with Sue Moore, who has been our longest serving site visitor for over 28 years to learn about how she became involved, why she has stayed committed and what she enjoys most.
I had been the President of the Bronxville, New York, Junior League, where a big part of our work there involved assessing organizations that were asking for grants. We visited these groups to evaluate their operations and ascertain whether their programs fit our own requirements. The Foundation offered me a chance to do similar work down here. I felt their efforts would be useful to the community as well as making me feel useful, myself. I had a really good team leader my first year, and have participated ever since!
I enjoy meeting people who are also searching for useful commitment while living in our “paradise”. The visiting teams are a mixed group. They are young and old, male and female, and come from all over the country. And the Foundation has always offered a good balance between the sports and other things (like bridge) that I like to do in Lost Tree. As I’ve “aged” and can’t be as active, I still want to put my time toward doing something useful. The Foundation is a good answer. Also, it’s important to know where our money goes in this influential organization and how carefully the grants are evaluated. The groups the Foundation supports are small local organizations, not huge national ones. You really feel the money is going exactly where it is supposed to be going and where it will make the most significant impact.
I like getting to know the community outside of Lost Tree and the major issues people face. The Foundation is a well-organized group, with devoted leaders and a financial backing that can make a big difference in many lives. During our visits to the various agencies, we get to know their staff and see their operations firsthand. Most of these people are so proud of the work they do; you get enthusiastic yourself and want to see them succeed! I love the exchanges we have with them and with each other on our teams. We are given a summary of each agency before we visit. This homework gives us a good idea of the work, the leaders and the financial standing of the group we will be visiting. Driving back home after our “tour”, we can make fresh evaluations. The different members of our team always come in from different angles. This discussion is important. I find that I become committed to many of these agencies and it’s gratifying, even years later, to read about them in the newspaper and see that they’ve moved forward and are being recognized for the great work that they do.