Nurturing a caring community

Peter Dykhuis is the director of Dalhousie Art Gallery and co-chair of Dal's United Way campaign.

It was just over a year ago when I received the fateful email from Kim Thomson. As outgoing co-chair of Dal’s United Way campaign, she was searching for someone to replace her and thought that I would be "ideal" for the position. I did not agree and quickly listed my reasons: “I’m too busy…;" “I already give to other charities…” and the classic line, “I don’t know enough about fundraising…”  I asked for a few weeks to think about it, hoping that Kim would find another "ideal" person in the interim.

While I was trying to dodge both Kim and the issue, a remarkable thing happened. My oldest daughter, a recent Dal grad who was now working at a part-time job, started volunteering at a men’s shelter and a soup kitchen in downtown Halifax. Volunteering – working neither for pay nor for school credit. I was humbled by her maturity and generosity. Her gift was her time and her sense of social responsibility, something that I certainly did not have when I was her age.  So I said yes to Kim.

It has been a fascinating first year as co-chair with Liz Cowley, my new friend and colleague, who is finishing her second-year as co-chair. I have met many fabulous people on campus who are affiliated with the United Way campaign and have also become very familiar with its positive presence in our community. Indeed, one of the most persuasive documents that I discovered is United Way’s map of HRM (PDF) that flags all of the agencies that they support.

I am busy as the director and curator of the Dalhousie Art Gallery, but I made a commitment to give a bit more of my time to help make a difference for the better for those in need within our community. I also believe post-secondary institutions are important places to develop the whole, social person, nurturing a community of citizens, whether students, faculty or staff.  So I decided to ‘put my money where my mouth is’ and donate at the ‘Inspired’ Leader level. 

Our 2010-11 campaign has been strong but we are still 15 per cent shy of our goal of $210,000. As we near the end, I urge you to consider how you, too, can make a difference at this point in time. All donations, large or small, send an inspirational message and show that you care for the broader health of our community.

For on-line donations, please go to: http://bit.ly/dYi2GP