In this day and age, with everyone as busy as they are, it can be easy to forget to say thank you. This is the purpose of today's article.
Last Saturday evening, Deaconess President, Felicia Freeman and I had the opportunity to attend the Tulalip Tribes "Raising Hands" event at the Tulalip Resort. According to Mel Sheldon, Chair of the Tulalip Tribes, it is traditional at Tulalip to "raise their hands" to applaud and give thanks to those who have given to them. At this event, they "raised their hands" to the many organizations in our region that contribute to our communities.
For those of you not local to this area, and for those who are, some of you may be wondering who the Tulalip are. The Tulalip Tribes are federally recognized successors in interest to the Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Skykomish and other allied tribes and bands signatory to the Treaty of Point Elliot. Their 22,000 acre reservation is home to about half of the tribe's 4,100 members and hundreds of non-native residents. Tulalip is also the third largest employer in Snohomish County, employing over 5,000 throughout the reservation.
Over the past 17 years, the Tulalip Tribes have donated almost 39 million dollars encompassing more than 250 organizations a year. Deaconess Children's Services' has been one of the organizations to benefit from Tulalip grants. Each of the funded organizations is equally worthy and I'm sure equally grateful for the financial assistance provided by these grants.
As a guest, it is an honor to be invited to "Raising Hands," Not only is it a beautiful ceremony, but it's also a fun event. Upon arrival, we were graciously greeted by Mel Sheldon, the Chair of the Tulalip Tribes, who thanked us for giving up our Saturday evening to celebrate with them. With over 500 guests in attendance, Raising Hands was a veritable "who's who" of our region's social service providers. As Mel said, it's a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and meet new ones. It's a good time to find out how others are serving our community.
The evening's program began with a formal presentation of the flag by the Tulalip Veterans and an Invocation by Marie Zackuse, Secretary of the Tulalip Board of Directors. Steve Gobin, General Manager of Quil Ceda Village greeted the guests and introduced Chairman Mel who welcomed us officially. During dinner, we were also treated to an informative talk with Tulalip's Chief Financial Officer, Chuck James. Keeping the details to himself, Mr. James assured everyone that tjhe tribes' finances are strong, allowing them to continue to employ as many local folks as they do and to continue their philanthropical work.
For me though, the hightlight of the evening (aside from the amazing meal) was the moving performance by the Tulalip Singers. This year, they also performed a song by the Makah Tribe and invited visiting Makah to sing with them. The Tulalip singers include people of all ages, young and old, all of whom sing and drum passionately. As I closed my eyes during the performance, I found myself feeling as if I were transported out of the room and in the midst of nature, completely relaxed. The ceremony ended with a gorgeous dessert and an opportunity for each guest to raise their hands to each other. If you ever get the opportunity to attend a Raising Hands ceremony, I urge you to go. You will leave feeling good about yourself, your community and full from a very healthy meal.
Thank you Tulalip Tribes for your support and for honoring the work we all do. We raise our hands.
For 114 years, Deaconess has been transforming the lives of children in the Pacific Northwest by breaking the cycle of child abuse and neglect and putting Children First!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Never Again...
Next Tuesday, September 21st is International Day of Peace, a day set aside by the General Assembly of the United Nations to encourage all mankind to work together toward a goal of world peace. While the first Day of Peace was in 1982, it wasn't until 2002 that September 21st was designated as the permanent International Day of Peace. In the spirit of peace, I'd like to share with you a story:
Robbie Waisman was born in Skarszysko, Poland and is the youngest of six children. He was ten years old when the Nazis invaded his town and was fourteen years old when he was liberated from Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Robbie eventually emigrated to Canada as part of the Canadian War Orphans Project, which saw the admittance of over 1,000 Jewish children to Canada.
For many years Robbie did not tell anyone of his experiences, except his wife. However, when he heard there was a teacher in Alberta, Canada who was telling his students that the Holocaust was a myth, Mr. Waisman decided the time had come to share his experiences and, since then, he has spent a great deal of time speaking to high school students and other groups, including our own Everett Rotary Club, which is how I came to hear his story. Today, Mr. Waisman is the President of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre and as an educator-speaker, as part of the Survivor Outreach Program; he has shared his experiences of the Holocaust with thousands of students.
He was a child when he was imprisoned and forced to slave in a concentration camp and he was a teenager when he was liberated and moved to a foreign country on his own. He survived the trauma of losing his parents and siblings and then growing up in a world where few understood what he'd been through. Over the years, he has transformed his life.
Mr. Waisman recounted that when he was young and the concentration camp was liberated, a promise was made..."Never again," which he took to heart. He has spent his later years working toward that goal: that the world must never allow what happened during WWII to happen again. Unfortunately, as Mr. Waisman pointed out, it is happening again. Not only in other parts of the world such as the Darfur region of Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), Cambodia and others, but children are neglected, abused and trafficked right here in the Pacific Northwest.
So why is Deaconess Children's Services writing a blog article about International Peace Day and the story of a Nazi Holocaust survivor? Most of you are familiar with the mission of Deaconess Children's Services. For 113 years, Deaconess has been putting children first and transforming the lives of children throughout the Pacific Northwest by breaking the cycle of child abuse and neglect. We can't do it alone - we need your help.
I know...those words are enough to strike fear in the hearts of most adults, but before you run away with anxiety, I'm not asking you to do anything too difficult. Children who experience neglect and/or abuse experience similar feelings of trauma, loss and fear that Mr. Waisman described in his story. Most of us agree that it is never acceptable for a child to be abused, starved, neglected, tortured, trafficked or enslaved, and that it is even worse when adults fails to act and protect them by preventing it from happening in the first place. Unfortunately, we don't always know how to act. Below are four, very practical, none too scary ways you can help:
1) Spend quality time talking with and playing with your children, or children in your life. Let them know how much they matter to you.
2) Volunteer your time in your community, helping children and others. Each of us matters to one another.
3) If you're able, donate money to a cause you feel strongly about, perhaps one that supports at risk children and youth; victims of abuse, violent crime or war; or one that prevents these issues from arising in the first place. It doesn't have to be much, whatever you have to offer. Every little bit counts...it all matters.
4) Visit www.internationaldayofpeace.org. Anyone, anywhere can celebrate Peace Day. It can be as simple as lighting a candle at noon or just sitting in silent meditation. It can even involve getting your co-workers, organization, community or government engaged in a large event. Imagine the impact that millions of people in all parts of the world, coming together, one at a time, for one day of peace, would have. It matters. You matter...we matter.
Perhaps, if each of us does just one thing in our community for someone else, we can eventually say..."it will never happen again."
How do you or will you show others they matter? We'd love to hear from you.
Robbie Waisman was born in Skarszysko, Poland and is the youngest of six children. He was ten years old when the Nazis invaded his town and was fourteen years old when he was liberated from Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Robbie eventually emigrated to Canada as part of the Canadian War Orphans Project, which saw the admittance of over 1,000 Jewish children to Canada.
For many years Robbie did not tell anyone of his experiences, except his wife. However, when he heard there was a teacher in Alberta, Canada who was telling his students that the Holocaust was a myth, Mr. Waisman decided the time had come to share his experiences and, since then, he has spent a great deal of time speaking to high school students and other groups, including our own Everett Rotary Club, which is how I came to hear his story. Today, Mr. Waisman is the President of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre and as an educator-speaker, as part of the Survivor Outreach Program; he has shared his experiences of the Holocaust with thousands of students.
He was a child when he was imprisoned and forced to slave in a concentration camp and he was a teenager when he was liberated and moved to a foreign country on his own. He survived the trauma of losing his parents and siblings and then growing up in a world where few understood what he'd been through. Over the years, he has transformed his life.
Mr. Waisman recounted that when he was young and the concentration camp was liberated, a promise was made..."Never again," which he took to heart. He has spent his later years working toward that goal: that the world must never allow what happened during WWII to happen again. Unfortunately, as Mr. Waisman pointed out, it is happening again. Not only in other parts of the world such as the Darfur region of Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), Cambodia and others, but children are neglected, abused and trafficked right here in the Pacific Northwest.
So why is Deaconess Children's Services writing a blog article about International Peace Day and the story of a Nazi Holocaust survivor? Most of you are familiar with the mission of Deaconess Children's Services. For 113 years, Deaconess has been putting children first and transforming the lives of children throughout the Pacific Northwest by breaking the cycle of child abuse and neglect. We can't do it alone - we need your help.
I know...those words are enough to strike fear in the hearts of most adults, but before you run away with anxiety, I'm not asking you to do anything too difficult. Children who experience neglect and/or abuse experience similar feelings of trauma, loss and fear that Mr. Waisman described in his story. Most of us agree that it is never acceptable for a child to be abused, starved, neglected, tortured, trafficked or enslaved, and that it is even worse when adults fails to act and protect them by preventing it from happening in the first place. Unfortunately, we don't always know how to act. Below are four, very practical, none too scary ways you can help:
1) Spend quality time talking with and playing with your children, or children in your life. Let them know how much they matter to you.
2) Volunteer your time in your community, helping children and others. Each of us matters to one another.
3) If you're able, donate money to a cause you feel strongly about, perhaps one that supports at risk children and youth; victims of abuse, violent crime or war; or one that prevents these issues from arising in the first place. It doesn't have to be much, whatever you have to offer. Every little bit counts...it all matters.
4) Visit www.internationaldayofpeace.org. Anyone, anywhere can celebrate Peace Day. It can be as simple as lighting a candle at noon or just sitting in silent meditation. It can even involve getting your co-workers, organization, community or government engaged in a large event. Imagine the impact that millions of people in all parts of the world, coming together, one at a time, for one day of peace, would have. It matters. You matter...we matter.
Perhaps, if each of us does just one thing in our community for someone else, we can eventually say..."it will never happen again."
How do you or will you show others they matter? We'd love to hear from you.
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