November 5, 2009

A Few Minutes for Gratitude

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense out of the past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” – Melody Beattie

Area youth are creating a vision for tomorrow through Fill the Dome 2009. The student-led, student-run event aims to raise $75,000, garner 7,500 signatures of awareness of hunger, and cover the Fargodome floor with 75 tons of food on November 23. Wow!

The annual event was created in June 2007 when area high school student council leaders decided they wanted to do “something big” as a way to show gratitude and give back to their communities. We’d say they’ve succeeded: Fill The Dome has raised $60,000 and collected 110 tons of food in the last two years. Again – wow!

Kilbourne Group is proud to sponsor Fill The Dome. Our support for hunger relief is long held: many readers will remember contributing canned goods at the Great Plains Holiday Wine and Cheese events. The issue of hunger in Fargo-Moorhead is real, and the Food Bank and area homeless shelters are to be commended for their part for helping ensure that food is available to those in need. To learn how you may contribute food, time, money and your signature of awareness, click here.

During this season of thankfulness and gratitude, it’s important to take a few moments every day to acknowledge our blessings and our challenges, too. Challenges make us stronger, drive innovation and give us insight for the future. In our often hectic and “over-connected” lives, it’s easy to overlook gratitude. Set aside a few minutes every day this month for gratitude. Simply giving thanks can have a profound effect on your attitude, outlook and outcomes. Gratitude truly does unlock the fullness of life.

 

Enjoy the journey,

Doug Burgum

Founder and Chairman, Kilbourne Group

 

P.S. It is with gratitude that I can share info about Fill The Dome and other Kilbourne Group-related activities through this newsletter. As always, we welcome your feedback on our projects and on future topics for this newsletter; simply send us an email at [email protected].