Chance encounters in a frame shop. Sarah E. and I had just worked together framing her Baby Nathalie's tiny hand and foot prints as a birthday gift for her husband. Chic, blond and beautifully-blue-eyed Sarah barely looks 25 but her deep husky voice reveals a load of maturity. Tucked into her portable car seat, baby Nathalie quietly smiles through rare steel grey eyes. She's wearing an awesome pearl grey knit outfit that I begin to covet. "Sarah, would you consider donating Nathalie's outgrown outfits to Room to Grow, where they will benefit a baby born into poverty?"

JP brought in a photo and two beautiful watercolors she purchsed at an auction. MZ walked in with her friend SS, proud of her limited edition "egg in a nest". And there's JB, TA, CD and quite a few more...pity my scruples and my respect for their privacy that I abstain for revealing their names for I think they should be known and here's why. What they have in common is that the art they brought in were all acquired at one of our local fundraisers - in purchasing art they all gave to a cause that meant the world to them. Brava! Bravo!

Gift giving can be tricky this holiday season. Cash is tight, and it doesn't really seem appropriate to "go all out". The catalogues keep piling up in the mail, but there is something particularly off putting about the flagrant consumerism. It's a tough situation for sure. Giving a gift to your favorite charity or non-profit in the name of a friend or loved one is a wonderful solution to the gift giving malaise.

Living in Brookline and working in Brookline - I do admittedly spend a lot of time thinking about Brookline. Recently, I was prowling the halls of my neighborhood public school while waiting to pick up my kids, and someone said to me "I didn't know you work for the Community Foundation. I just saw your name on the letterhead of the recent appeal letter. What is the difference between the Brookline Foundation and the Brookline Community Foundation? It is confusing?".