Transcriber: Bob Prottas Reviewer: Ivana Korom
Well several years ago a very wealthy,
beautiful friend of mine was getting married.
So I was going to the wedding and I had to buy a wedding gift.
But what do you buy for someone who has everything?
So instead of buying something that I couldn't afford and they didn't need,
instead I sent them a card committing to volunteering 1,000 hours
at the Children's Hospital in honor of their marriage.
I thought that was pretty cool. I was feeling like a real good person.
(Laughter)
Looking for a bumper sticker for my Mom's car
"My daughter . . ." (Laughter)
So I went to the first day of training and one of the very first things we did
was we took a tour of the hospital.
We went up this elevator to the children's cancer floor
and when that elevator door opened and I saw the children
those cancer patients, my throat started to hurt
and my head hurt, and my heart hurt
and I realized that I couldn't do it.
I didn't have the emotional capacity to handle it
and I couldn't fulfill that commitment.
So I flaked and I just left.
And then about 3 years later I came home from work
and our answering machine was flashing full of messages.
Saying that Jacob, the fun vibrant 5 year old son
of our dear friends had been diagnosed with a very deadly form of cancer.
And he was being admitted to that same children's hospital.
So I went back and went up that elevator again
but this time when those doors opened what I saw was not a cancer patient
I saw a little boy, a little boy that I loved.
And I saw a Mom, another Mom, so I sat down and I said
"Okay what can I do? How can I help?"
"What are you immediate concerns?" And she said
"I cannot leave him alone to go through this by himself in the hospital.
I have to be here.
But if I don't go back to work
we will lose our insurance and we won't be able to pay our bills.
So I don't know what to do."
So I thought and I decided then that I would use the one skill
that I learned really, really well in college
I threw a party.
(Laughter)
And everybody came because everybody was look for a way to help
but they really didn't know how.
So we came together and in one day
we raised enough money for her to quit her job
and be with him for the entire year of his treatment.
But there was a little piece left and that was the payment
for the insurance for COBRA.
So I called my wealthy, beautiful friend
and she and her new husband anonymously wrote a personal check
every month to cover that COBRA.
That day at that party Jacob's mother stood up
and said words that would change my life and the lives of thousands.
In front of all of us she said
"When Jacob was first diagnosed
I remembered someone saying that God never
gives you more than you can handle."
And I never thought I could believe that again.
But what I've learned is you can handle anything
if you don't have to handle it alone.
I left that party so inspired by what she said
and thinking about the other children, the other parents on that floor
and what if we were to cast a wider net
to support them.
What would that look like?
So I went to see a nonprofit expert.
This was a woman, she had lots of degrees
and she had a big business suit with big shoulder pads
and she sort of hovered over me
and she looked down at me and she said
"Honey you could never start a nonprofit
the paperwork alone would overwhelm you."
Jacob's mother's words, our mission,
was stronger than her words.
And she didn't understand the passion
and the urgency of this cause.
And she was wrong!
Jacob's Heart has grown to become
an award winning nonprofit
serving hundreds of families of children with cancer every year.
And I've got to to tell you, the medical experts
were wrong about Jacob.
They gave him a 5% chance of survival
and he just graduated from High School last week.
(Applause) (Cheering)
And by the way, my 1,000 hours
they're well accounted for and then some
(Laughter)
and I've gone on to start two other nonprofits.
And I'll tell you, I have fallen in love
with the nonprofit sector.
Because in spite of our imperfections - and there are many -
nonprofits do far more with far less
than any corporate social venture or government program can possibly do.
For our children. For our grandparents.
For ourselves.
And each of 1.6 million nonprofits in this country
started with a story very similar to the story I just told you.
A story that defined a mission and engaged a community's generosity
to make a difference.
The Children's Hospice and Palliative Care Coalition
started because one boy thirteen years old
who lived just a couple of blocks from this auditorium
died in unnecessary pain
after being denied hopsice
because of an outdated regulation.
So we formed a nonprofit around the mission
to speak out on behalf of those too little
or those sick to speak for themselves.
And we changed that regulaiton.
The Boomerang Foundation, our mission is to ignite the power
of young people to create a more compassionate world.
And it was inspired by a group of High School girls
who decided to have a bake sale.
Because they cared about other kids
and they got all together all their friends.
Those girls got together and donated -
I am not kidding you - $100,000.
To help kids they would never even meet.
Nonprofits bring out the best in us.
It gives us a place where we can express our generosity
and express our compassion.
And I really believe in this country, it balances our ethics
with our economics.
Last year, last fiscal year, individuals,
I'm not talking about corporations, or foundations right now,
but individual citizens, gave 227 billion dollars
and volunteered 8 billion hours in response
to things that we care about.
That's compassion.
To think about how much we can learn.
There's so much we can learn from the way
grassroots nonprofits in our communities do business.
I mean imagine, next time when you wrote your check to the IRS
if the Federal Government sent you a thank you card.
Thank you for your donation. I can see it.
Dear Mrs. Butterworth.
Thank you for your contribution.
Because of you we're able to achieve the mission of this nation.
We are able to establish justice, promote the general welfare
provide for the common defense and secure the blessing of liberty.
Thank you and at the end of the year we're going to give you a full accounting
about how we spent your money so you'll be inspired to give again.
(Laughter) (Applause)
You know tomorrow if we woke up
and we went on our days and all the nonprofits were gone
really, our schools, our streets
our country, our world woud be less safe.
And most importantly
the littlest, the sickest and the weakest amoung us
might not have a voice and might be left alone.
To quote one of my favorite TEDsters Sarah Kay
"Indeed there is more hurt here that can be fixed
by bandaids and poetry."
No matter how far nonprofits stretch our fingers
our hands will always be too small to catch
all the hurt, injustice, all the pain that we intend to heal.
We need you.
We the people of the United States
in order to really form a more perfect union
must unite to fill in the gaps
between the fingers of the grassroots
nonprofits working in our communities.
If we're going to invest anywhere
let's invest there.
Because it's our mission.
It's who we are.
And Jacob's mother was right.
We can handle anything if we don't have to handle it alone.
Thank you.
(Applause)