The Highs and Lows of Working in a Nonprofit

There are real highs and lows for those of us working in the nonprofit field.

The lows include being challenged on a daily basis to meet the needs of the organization, in the most basic ways, things like insurance, office supplies, and oh yeah, staff. In my particular nonprofit, every expense is magnified in my mind. Even the most basic bills get reviewed for accuracy and for hidden charges. Before signing any contracts for services, I comb through pages of legal gobbldygook to ensure we're not going to get nailed three years down the road. We don't have the luxury of making stupid mistakes. And by the way, I hate finding out a few years later I didn't catch something that will now cost my nonprofit $29.95 extra per month. I growl out loud when that happens (which isn't very often).

The highs - and I do mean highs - make the disadvantages worth enduring. The other day, I was in a meeting about a program that the Brain Injury Association of Delaware (BIAD) piloted with several other nonprofit collaborators. The people in the room represented - for me - the long term leadership of "The BIAD Art Club". Check out pics of the program here. (You have to scroll all the way down to the bottom.) The energy in the room among the four of us (and our distant participant on conference call) was fabulous. Andrew, who serves Peach Tree Acres as its Activities Director, said something about our program that made my heart skip a beat: "For some of the [Art Club participants], this program was the biggest thing of their entire lives." Hearing this, I realized that through BIAD's Art Club, we helped people experience their own highs through personal achievement and recognition. I was struck at the weight of that statement. An immense feeling of humility washed over me.

When the lows get me down, I will think of Jody, who was terrified and nervous at the thought of showing her work in a professional gallery, but got dressed up, did her makeup, and bravely did it anyway. I will think of Hollis, who created a chalk pastel sunset so beautiful it took my breath away. I will think of Linda, who created gorgeous clouds and taught me how to use a paint brush. I will think of Bob, who loved his sister Jane so much he featured her in his artwork, in a manner of speaking. I will think of Tracey, who inspires me every day to continue to work to enhance the quality of life for everyone I meet - not just brain injury survivors - by looking at the whole person.

Administrative headaches will always be there. Funding will never be what we need it to be. And yet, these things are all peripheral to the importance of our mission. They will never stop me from working to make a difference.

A Healthy Harvest for Delaware's Kids

I met Thianda Manzara, Ph.D., in the restroom at a grant workshop at Delaware State University. She said she was the Executive Director of Healthy Foods for Healthy Kids, and I freaked out. I had been on her website not long before, and said, "I have to interview you!" After I explained to her about this blog project, she was excited. For our interview, we met at the St. Jones Reserve in Dover which, I discovered, has perhaps the world's largest and most diverse population of green head flies that I've ever seen. (I'm still scratching.)

Healthy Foods for Healthy Kids is Thianda's brainchild. She wanted to teach kids about agriculture. Herself a former professor of biology with a background in agronomy (the study of how things grow), Thianda had a passion for gardening and good food. Thianda says, "I had an idea, but I didn't think it would work." After hearing about and visiting a California program called "The Edible Schoolyard", which was all about teaching children about agriculture, she said, "There's no reason we can't do this in Delaware." So, she began to build  Healthy Foods for Healthy Kids with the intent to provide children with an education about food, science, and gardening. "I wanted kids to know where their food comes from, and that vegetables can be delicious!" Springer Middle School was the first to sign up, and the program grew from there. The organization attained nonprofit status in 2008.

Thianda now serves as the volunteer Executive Director and Founder for Healthy Foods for Healthy Kids. The program, which is now based in 11 Delaware schools (with two more coming this year), provides teachers with a ready-made gardening program in which the entire school can participate. Children in each grade assume responsibility for different tasks within the garden - whether it be planting or watering or tilling - and they harvest their own vegetables. Each class has a special job to do. Thianda loves to see the children's "delight and discovery over what grows from a seed, and to see that it looks just like what they get at the grocery store." By teaching them to be curious about their food, they are improving their health. And once the program is begun, it is self-sustainable, in other words, the teachers continue the program for the children over the course of the school year.

One child, a seven-year-old from Downs Elementary, worked in the garden growing radishes (among other things). After they were washed, he popped one into his mouth, and it was true love. He went home and asked his mom to give him radishes as a reward for doing well, then he started his own radish garden at home. "I love that he discovered that he loved something that was good for him," Thianda said, "It shows the program really works." The principals, she says, have said the program has made a huge positive impact on their schools.

I ask, "How has your life been impacted by serving your community?" She smiles, and thinks a few seconds. "I am so happy to share the things that I love with children. I love to educate people on something that is really important to their health."

My ten bucks will allow Healthy Foods for Healthy Kids to maintain their program. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit has just one paid staff member and no office, and (as is typical of most Executive Directors), Thianda's small car is filled with the tools of her trade. "We don't have a lot of [overhead] expenses. Even small donations make a big impact. With ten bucks, we can buy seeds for a garden, tools for a student, or one teacher kit."


If more people donated their ten bucks, Thianda says, "We could serve more schools. We have eleven so far, and we're added two more this year, but there are at least eight other schools on the waiting list. We can't accommodate them because we don't have enough people to do the work." Thianda would like to have more employees to make the program more sustainable. She's received some funding through the schools for the programs, and a grant from DOW, but she needs continued support from the community to keep the program growing.

To me, Thianda is the perfect example of someone who saw the opportunity to make a difference, created a program that addressed the issues, and put it into place. Thianda is as "grassroots" as it gets.

I hope you'll choose to support Healthy Foods for Healthy Kids. Send your contribution to Healthy Foods for Healthy Kids at P.O. Box 847, Hockessin DE 19707. You can read more about the nonprofit on their web site at http://healthyfoodsforhealthykids.giving.officelive.com.

My Ten Bucks matters, and so does yours.