Thursday, November 20, 2008

Giving back always comes back to you

This afternoon as I was straightening out my desk, I came across a thank you card I’d received a couple weeks ago from some teachers who attended our Invitation to Design workshop in October. Reading their really sweet and sincere note made me smile: just as our moms always said, it’s always good to do good, and you’ll get it back tenfold in return. The person who came to mind at that moment was Dr. Lawrence Tseu.

A few weeks prior to our workshop, I spoke to Dr. Tseu, an old friend and just someone I’ve admired over the years for his incredible generosity. Dr. Tseu was Philanthropist of the Year for the state of Hawaii in 2007. He doesn’t just talk the talk, he walks the walk.

Dr. Tseu told me he has been watching the growth of our company and would love to come to our workshop, but was unable to attend. Instead, he wanted to purchase a table for others. I said well are you sure you want to do this? He said I want to support you, and I know the people who would be at the table would enjoy your show, and I want to be a part of that. He said, Cathy, just give the tickets to some deserving people who could benefit from being there.

‘Deserving’? That was easy. I picked up the phone and invited a few teachers from my daughter, Nicki and Lissa’s daughter, Megan’s school. After all, who’s more deserving than the people who are educating our kids?
They were thrilled. They came, had a great time and sent me this beautiful card along with a note they sent to Dr. Tseu as well.

In our conversation, Dr. Tseu did tell me that helping others is all about helping without recognition, and he wanted no recognition. He even told me to tell the people I chose for his table that the tickets were from me. I said absolutely not, I want people to know what a wonderful and generous man you are!




And now you know!

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