JUST, LOVE PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE

In March 2023, our CEO and I attended the United Way Great Rivers conference. This conference typically gathers varying-sized UWs from all over the Midwest. The conference location changes yearly, but ultimately must be able to hold a significant number of attendees, presenters, and vendors for the four-day conference. This year, Great Rivers was held in Rochester, MN. Rochester is known for many things, but its most significant notoriety comes from being the home to the Number 1 hospital in the USA, Mayo Clinic. I had never been to Minnesota before and knew nothing about Rochester. I’m from Wooster, Ohio. And although we knew some about the conference’s location, it was very different arriving at our hotel and seeing that our staff wasn’t just staying “near” the Mayo Clinic; we were staying AT the Mayo Clinic. 

To be honest, I felt a little nervous about the conference location. While the city was beautiful and the Skywalk was incredible, I just kept feeling a sense of guilt for being there and feeling this way. We met people from all over during our time at the Great Rivers conference, and it typically was either because they attended the UW conference or were there for services at Mayo Clinic. So many people we met were there specifically for medical needs. I felt guilty for being there for something “fun,” guilty when passing individuals in rollators as I hustled to my next conference session, and generally guilty anywhere outside of the typical conference space. I couldn’t stop thinking, “What if I am passing by someone who just heard the worst news of their life? I’m just walking by as if nothing happened.” Now, because I am from the Midwest, I am always smiling at whomever I pass, but it still doesn’t change the fact that I feel guilty.

As part of my week-long conference journey, I decided to make a fun social media video. A current social trend is taking a children’s toy on your trip and video documenting its journey. It's a fun way to see how creative we can get when documenting the trip, and honestly a great way to pass the time. Buttons, an adorably soft stress bear (see picture), went on our trip to Great Rivers with us. From the airport to the Mall of America®, to conference sessions and choir practice, we documented the teddy bear’s journey. I had so many video clips and pictures, and by Thursday afternoon had already started compiling a social video to share his journey. Friday morning would be the last day of the conference, so I wanted to get as much as I could done before the conference was complete. The cutest part about Buttons is that he has our campaign theme on his belly, “Just, Love”. We launched our local United Way campaign in 2022 to be a 3-year long theme. The “Just, Love campaign” was birthed in response to the societal need for pure, unconditional love. The comma is significant, as it represents a pause. A pause to stop to smell the roses, a pause to stop and love one another. So everywhere we took Buttons, we also had a reminder to “Just, Love”.

On Thursday afternoon, our CEO was in a session while I had some free time. I headed to our hotel room to freshen up before the start of the evening conference itinerary. As I walked down the hall to the elevator, there was a cute little family on the elevator: it appeared to look like a dad, mom, and daughter. I wasn’t sure if they were visiting or if there was a reason that brought them to Rochester. Still, considering they didn’t have conference name tags on, I could most likely assume the family was there visiting the Mayo Clinic.

I wanted so badly at that moment to create small talk with the family but did not know how to break the ice. I thought to myself, “What if they think I’m trying to pry? What if they just had a really awful day and didn’t want to talk to a perky stranger?” While all these thoughts went through my mind, my mouth began to speak, and before I knew it, I said, “Hey, do you like teddy bears?” and pulled out Buttons from my purse. The little girl lit up! She was so excited and even began showing me another “squishy” type toy she held in her precious hands. Then, I explained to the parents that I worked at United Way and wanted their daughter to have this bear. They thanked me, and by that time, I was walking off the elevator headed to my room, and that’s when I heard her mother say, “Awe, look, it says Just, Love.”

What just happened? I had just spent over an hour on my conference break drafting a “Buttons Takes Great Rivers” video montage, and then I gave away Buttons less than a half hour later. I couldn’t finish the video, which bummed me out. But then I immediately caught myself and thought, “you just made this little girl’s day. I don’t know for sure if she was visiting at Mayo Clinic, but what does it matter? It made her day by giving Buttons away to her! That was his purpose!” I can still hear her mother’s voice commenting on the campaign slogan. Just, Love. I think I may never forget that moment. I knew nothing about this family, but I knew in that moment, that THIS was Buttons’ purpose. THIS was his journey. THIS is what those of us in the nonprofit world coin “community impact.” It may not seem like much, but it starts small. Little gestures make incredible impacts in our world, and it begins by just loving people where they are. The unconditional love that so often is missing from our day-to-day. 

This moment made me think back to arriving on Monday for the conference. While I felt guilty in many ways for being there, I had a different perspective after that interaction. What if having me there was a breath of fresh air? What if seeing people bebop through the skywalk halls brought joy to someone’s face? What if meeting someone and having a conversation about my line of work and not conversation about medical diagnoses was just what the doctor ordered? They say energy transfers, and I know for a fact our conference goers have A LOT of energy, positive energy.

Throughout the conference, the buzzword “community impact” was constantly thrown around. I honestly had no idea what “community impact” meant when I was attending the various sessions. But through many of my interactions during and outside of this conference, I realized that my being there and staying at Mayo Clinic is what community impact is all about. It wasn’t just the little girl and her parents. It was the kind words and smiles made to the hard-working waitstaff and staff members of our hotel, the hour-long conversations and laughter had with Mayo Clinic patients while eating dinner, it was singing karaoke with 60+ United Way people at the tavern with locals telling our group this was “truly the best night of our lives.” It’s those interactions that made me realize that community impact simply means to Just, Love. Love people where they are. We never know the struggles someone is going through, and we don’t have to in order to show love and kindness. 

Kindness costs nothing but means everything. Just, Love.