An Unmarked Envelope

I got to the office just a little bit ago, and there was a piece of mail waiting for me. No return address but postmarked in Florida. I opened it, and it had a crumpled $5 bill inside. No note or anything else. Just a crumpled $5 bill.

I was immediately struck by this gift. I don’t know who gave it or why. I don’t know if they’ve given in the past or if they’ll ever give again. But I was humbled by this simple, nondescript gift. And to paraphrase a line from someone else: most gifts of $5 are given at greater personal sacrifice than most gifts of $50,000. If the person behind this gift is out there, you have my deepest gratitude for your partnership.

I’m grateful for each person who gives of their time, talent, and treasure to help advance the mission of Jill’s House—whether they are colleagues of mine here at Jill’s House, volunteers at any one of our locations, donors—or all three! I’m grateful for those who give $5, $500, $5,000, $500,000, or more each year—and we need and are blessed to have people in the Jill’s House community who give at all those levels.

It takes a big community to make the mission and work of Jill’s House possible. Thank you for the part you play in that. Your contributions of all kinds go neither unnoticed nor unappreciated.

Thank you.

Warmly,

Joel Dillon