The United Way works to keep the 'goodness of the world flowing'

This time of year, many people start to focus on the upcoming holidays, and they become harried and hurried. It's easy to forget the true meaning of Thanksgiving and other upcoming seasonal celebrations, such as being grateful and focusing on what truly matters in life.

"Gratefulness is more than being thankful. It is a simple practice to foster an attitude of keeping the goodness of the world flowing, of receiving that goodness with open arms and then giving it out -- that's the key to happiness," said Brother David Steindl-Rast, a lecturer and author of Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer (Paulist Press). Steindl-Rast, a Benedictine monk with a Ph.D. in psychology who now lives in Ithaca, founded a noncommercial, virtual community, now in more than 100 countries, that shares ideas about the practice and dissemination of "gratefulness" via the Web site http://www.gratefulness.org.

An offshoot of that Web site is an initiative at Cornell called the Gratefulness Project, which is part of the Cornell-affiliated Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy. The project's goal is to raise public awareness of the benefits of practicing gratefulness for personal growth and social change.

The Gratefulness Project was developed to help remind people of the important things in life, and it is one of the things that makes Tompkins County unique. Another is how this community keeps the goodness flowing with its generosity in support of local nonprofit organizations that offer a myriad of services to local residents. These range from providing assistance to disaster victims (American Red Cross), battered women (The Advocacy Center of Tompkins County) and those in personal crisis (Suicide Prevention and Crisis Services) to supporting individuals with physical or developmental disabilities (Challenge Industries), helping families minimize the damage divorce can cause (Community Dispute Resolution Center) and offering local adults free tutoring in literacy skills (Literacy Volunteers).

"Contributing to the United Way is the most efficient way I know of to support our community's human service agencies," said Hal Craft, chair of the 2003 Cornell United Way Campaign and the university's vice president for administration and CFO. "The pledges that our staff and faculty make support more than 100 local health and human service programs," he said. "These generous donations make our community the kind of place in which we all want to live. This is the time of year that many of us reflect on our lives. By contributing to the United Way, we guarantee that our good intentions will benefit our neighbors all year long."

In addition to requesting renewed support from members of the Cornell community who have contributed to the United Way in the past, Craft is asking those who have not contributed to consider contributing this year. "A contribution of just $1 per paycheck from new participants could make a dramatic impact on the quality of life of our community at large," he said.

As of Tuesday, Nov. 18, the Cornell United Way Campaign reported it had received pledges of $379,987, which is 65 percent of its $585,000 goal. "We are off to a great start, but we still have a way to go," Craft said.