Wouldn’t you like to say you went to college on a “Hot Dog Scholarship?”

“The Chronicle of Higher Education” reported this story in its September 17, 2004 issue. Six students each year benefit from the generosity of two small business owners. Ernie and George, competing hot dog vendors in the city of Toronto, each donate a day’s earnings toward scholarship funds at Ryerson University.

It all started back in 1982 when Ernie decided he could use his hot dog stand not only to feed students, but help them with tuition too. He set aside one day in which all the earnings went toward a scholarship. Eventually an endowment was established, and it now gives four $400 scholarships each year.

Then when George set up a hot dog stand just down the street, he decided to join his competitor in doing good too.

What I love about this story is that it shows that commitments of even small amounts of money or time can make a huge impact. Out of 365 days a year that the little stands are open just one day is devoted to this charitable cause. And yet this commitment has made a big difference in the lives of struggling college students. With the power of compound interest the endowments are destined to continue giving long after the men have retired from the hot dog business.

So today I’ll leave you with this thought…
What small action can you take today that can make a big difference?

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Today I attended a local chapter meeting of the Business & Professional Women organization, upon the invitation of my friend Diane. BPW is a civic organization that “uses technology, relationships, education and career enchancements to advance women.”

I was very impressed by the number of charitable causes supported by this group, and everyone is very enthusiastic about them. The local chapter participates in run walk events including Relay for Life, American Heart Walk and the Komen Race for the Cure. They just finished participating in an all Women’s Habitat for Humanity Build and support many local educational and welfare related causes.

There are a lot of career enhancement and personal growth programs with this organization. Diane was right when she told me that many first time visitors are overwhelmed by the number of opportunities available. This is one of the great things about joining a civic club, there are many opportunities to meet new people, learn, share and grow!

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I finally decided to get back to blogging for this fundraising site! I’m going to upload all of the spring ‘04 walk journal into this format eventually. But I decided to go ahead and start posting again now!

Summer is already gone, but as many of you know I have not been taking a break. I completed The Beginner’s Guide to Fundraising: How to Raise Big Money with Small Events. This was my biggest undertaking of the summer! It was really a lot of fun talking with all of the contributors, gathering stories and hearing about other people’s fundraising successes.

Now I’m working on adding more pages to this site…more info about different walks, marathon training programs and of course new fundraising ideas. There’s a lot more to come, so stay tuned.

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