Last month, the Dublin Community Foundation held the first ever “Kindness and Coffee,” a roundtable conversation with community members, non-profit leaders and foundation trustees. Board President, Harry Kamdar, lead the conversation, where participants spoke on all topics from what kindness means to where the Dublin community stands on kindness.
“The yardstick of measuring the success of the foundation, in my estimation, is not necessarily the amount of money we raise or the amount of grants we hand out – my estimation in terms of how we measure success is making a difference for the less fortunate, the vulnerable and the at-risk population in our community,” Kamdar stated.
Members of the chat then went around and discussed personally what kindness meant to them, with descriptions such as, “love,” “generosity,” “action,” “justice,” and many more. The conversation then dove into creative solutions that would help illustrate ways in which the organization could begin to work towards creating a kinder community.
“You start one random act of kindness, it just starts a chain of good things that happen in the community and we certainly could use a lot of that,” Kamdar shared.
The meeting closed with Jill Kranstuber from Dublin Bridges and Denise Youngsteadt-Parrish, Executive Director of Dublin Food Pantry, both sharing heart-felt stories about the Dublin community, despite hard times, stepping up and helping those around them in need whether it be through food donation or volunteering their time.
Kamdar reminded all to be mindful of this upcoming holiday season, especially during the pandemic, of those who may be secluded or without and to try to reach out a helping hand if possible. The DCF plans to have a Kindness and Coffee panel on a monthly basis with neighboring organizations to continue the discussion in bettering the community with additional guest speakers.
If you are interested in getting involved and learning more about ways in which you can help spread kindness in the community, please contact the Dublin Community Foundation. Or, if you are interested in making a donation, please visit our website.
At the Dublin Community Foundation, our mission is to support local non-profit organizations by raising, investing, and dispersing funds for the enrichment of the entire Dublin community. We take immense pride in seeing the organizations that we support go on to meet the growing needs of our community. These are challenging and uncertain times, but Dublin nonprofit organizations are certainly rising to the occasion.