INDIVIDUALLY AND TOGETHER they are willing to dig in, to do the hard work. They are good at giving back.
They do it for Santa Fe not-for-profits, including the Cancer Foundation for New Mexico, The Lensic, The Museum of New Mexico Foundation, Growing Up New Mexico, Santa Fe Regional Airport, Enterprise Bank & Trust…well, you get the idea.
It’s what they love. And giving of their time – and of their money – is simply second nature.
Is compassion something that comes naturally to people or is it something they develop over time?
Valerie: I think the seeds are sown in childhood, sown by your parents and your grandparents and brothers and sisters. I think of how compassionate a child is when they lose a pet and that’s sort of the beginning of it. I was an elementary teacher for a long time and I could see that in kids early on. But I also think it can be encouraged and enhanced as life goes on.
Bud, did the business skills of working at Proctor & Gamble help you raise money and lead the boards you run?
Bud: I learned early in my career that P&G was very philanthropic. So that was a part of your leadership responsibilities. You were asked to get involved, and I learned a lot. At the same time, the things you are exposed to when you’re working in philanthropy are quite different from the business world. You see disadvantaged folks and you have more empathy. It’s good because people benefit from it, and it’s also a lot of fun for me. I’m good at it.
Plus, we’re philanthropic ourselves. And so a big part of my strategy in asking for money is to ask people whom I’ve helped. And we help a lot of people in the Santa Fe area, a lot of different organizations. So if they know that we’re giving, it’s much harder for them to say no to a person that they know is helping them.
You do a lot with the Cancer Foundation for New Mexico.
Valerie: In 2004, a neighbor said she was doing volunteer work at the Cancer Foundation in the chemotherapy room. And she said, This is something you should do. You’re the right person to do this. Because I was a relatively recent cancer survivor.
The first or second time I volunteered in the chemo room I came home and I said to Bud, I’m not sure I can do this. I was with a patient that day who was entering her third bout with cancer. And I thought at the end of my bout with it, Well, it’s over. I won. And so that was something I had to address.
Not everybody wins.
Valerie: Yeah.
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