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The holiday gift that keeps on giving

December 3, 2017

Most humans are born with a natural tendency to give to others. We drop a coin in a charity box or into the guitar case of a street musician. It is human nature to be altruistic. Altruism is defined as unselfish concern for other people. It involves doing things simply out of a desire to help, not because you feel obligated to out of loyalty, duty, or for religious reasons. What better example have we seen than the recent goodness of people helping one another through the destruction of the hurricanes? Young and old alike stepped up to help others who were struggling. We all reacted with a need to give.

As described in Oprah magazine, as much as we inveigh against it biblically, or deplore the headless pursuit of it, money is one of the things that truly unites us. By giving of our money, we cement together some vital elements of our commonwealth. One holiday season, a management group in Rhode Island gave its employees money on the express condition that the employees then give it to someone else in need.

So was the thinking of Ron Moore of J.A. Moore and Sons of Rehoboth Beach. This is a real estate investment company founded long ago as a construction firm. Ron is a Delaware native, having grown up in the Seaford area. He left the state to attend Old Dominion University in Virginia but returned to build the business to serve the five surrounding states, thus building a large base of associates, clients and subcontractors.

As with most businesses at holiday time, there is always the dilemma of how to say "thank you" with a gift. After running the course of giving holiday beverages, gift books, and tins of popcorn, Ron felt there had to be a better way. He decided to make a donation to several nonprofits, one of which was Beebe Healthcare. "I realized we were trying to think up gifts to give to our clients and subcontractors each holiday season, and no one really needed these gifts. That's when I thought of making donations to local nonprofit organizations on behalf of the receivers of my gifts. My gift to them provides an opportunity to give back to our community."

His wife Suzanne says, "Ron was really inspired to make this happen. I'm usually the creative voice in our relationship, but this was Ron's creation, and I was impressed!" The Moores are avid golfers and spend their winters in Florida, but they know that their gifts are working year-round in our community.

Ron's challenge, of course, is to choose the right charities. He looks into how much of the dollars raised go directly to meet the needs of the community. He feels that Beebe is a good investment, as every dollar donated supports an essential service for our community.

Each gift is acknowledged by a note in a holiday card telling the recipient of the donation in the person or company's name. Steve Ellis of Rehoboth Beach has been a recipient of such a gift and shares, "Ron and Suzanne Moore's annual holiday gift to Beebe Healthcare reflects their continuing commitment to institutions such as Beebe which serve not only the residents of Sussex County, but also our visitors during the summer months."

Today's businesses spend as much time thinking about giving responsibly as making profits. A study by James Fowler of the University of California, San Diego, and Nicholas Christakis of Harvard, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, shows that when one person behaves generously, it inspires observers to behave generously later, toward different people. In fact, the researchers found that altruism could spread by three degrees – from person to person to person to person. "As a result," they write, "each person in a network can influence dozens or even hundreds of people, some of whom he or she does not know and has not met."

If you and your business or organization are interested in learning more about holiday gift giving with a purpose, contact the Beebe Medical Foundation at 302-644-2900 or write to foundation@beebehealthcare.org. Gifts to Beebe Healthcare change and save lives every day.

As a community-based, not-for-profit healthcare system, Beebe Healthcare depends on the generous support of businesses like J.A. Moore and Sons, and individuals like Ron and Suzanne Moore. All gifts to Beebe Healthcare, large or small, are tax-deductible and are channeled through Beebe Medical Foundation.

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