Margo Greenfield is a longtime supporter of Family Promise. She and her family have been volunteering with the Union County program for years and, as a member of the Promise Guild, Margo donates to the organization on a monthly basis. We asked her to share with the community her thoughts on Family Promise and why she supports our mission.
“I want to give where I can have a direct impact,
where my support makes a difference.
I’ve seen Family Promise lift families to a different future.”
where my support makes a difference.Margo Greenfield doesn’t see herself as a philanthropist, but that’s exactly what she has become. Observing her parents’ quiet work for their church and community and speaking out in the larger world set an example that she sought to model for her own children.
“When the kids were young we volunteered with Family Promise as a family. My husband, children, and I would prepare and serve meals, and my kids played with the children in the program,” Margo explains. “My kids never thought they were doing anything exceptional – they were just playing with other kids and sharing their games and time with children whose families were in a temporary jam.”
What Margo likes about the way her family’s support of Family Promise has grown over time is that it happened in a very organic, uncontrived way.
“If children are raised with an understanding of how important it is to give back to the community, it becomes a part of who they are. It doesn’t require any thought, it just happens. It becomes a habit,” she says.
As the years went by, and with more time and resources available, Margo and her husband, Dan, began to think about their giving in a more focused way, first by charting out categories that were important to them: poverty, education, environment, social justice, the arts, and their church. Later they began to think about impact, about how their gifts might prompt significant change for an institution or the families it served.
But it was the concept of pledging within religious institutions that reshaped Margo’s giving philosophy. Recognizing the security a regular source of income offers non-profit organizations to ensure they can operate and do good works throughout the year, she and Dan began supporting Family Promise monthly.
“Monthly donors like Margo are so important to us,” says Cara Bradshaw, Chief Impact Officer at Family Promise. “Having the security to make plans and count on the support and resources to execute them is invaluable and allows us to better support our families.”
Margo sums things up this way: “I’ve been involved with Family Promise for years, and I know the great work it does helping families in need. I hear family stories and I know my support makes a difference.”
To join Family Promise’s monthly giving program, the Promise Guild, click the button below:
