Someday when hundreds of Yellow Envelope nominations are flooding in each week, I will reminisce about the days when I had to announce, remind, solicit, and yell from the mountain tops that, in order to keep our project alive, we need Yellow Envelope nominees!  Until then I will persist.  I will call friends on Friday in search of someone they know who shines, imploring them to give me a name and address... for tomorrow.  I will tell perfect strangers about the project hoping they will visit our site to submit a nomination.  Above all else, I will happily hog the right to recognize the countless people with whom I come in contact and who deserve Yellow Envelope Love.

I'm not too proud.  I believe in the this project and I won't stop until nominations flood in by the hundreds.

Here's why.  Each week I attend my Rotary meeting and each week a guest speaker stands up telling of the service project he or she is representing.  Restoring used computers for kids whose families could never afford one, purchasing water rights for reservations in the US that don't have clean water (yes, there are people in the US who don't have access to clean water), relief work in Haiti, Boy Scouts giving face lifts to run down parks, raising money for college scholarships, and seeking volunteers to help with the local Special Olympics are just a few.

These people, - all of them - they shine.  They shine because they embody so many of the principles outlined in our newly published Shine Manifesto.  None of these people will be featured on the news or will win an award.  No one is going to announce their achievements from the mountaintops.  But, when someone goes out of their way to brighten their corner of the world by putting service above self, we should feel a sense of urgency about recognizing and reinforcing their contributions.

We can't take a chance that their light - their energy - will flicker and then burn out.  Not when flooding their mailbox is so darn easy.

Let's take Karen for example.  Every day for the past five years, Karen the single mother of an adult child with severe disabilities, has fought an uphill battle.  She is blazing a trail trying to establish an assisted living center in North Texas that will serve a fraction of the more than 100,000 physically and intellectually handicapped adults who live in the area.  One woman working on the same goal for five years - a goal that you and I might easily dismiss because we aren't directly affected.  They've made some strides, but Karen and the small army of supporters she's gathered along the way, are years away from reaching their goal.

Karen is Relentlessly Passionate.

What would happen if there weren't the Karen's of the world?  What would happen if no one took an interest in helping physically and intellectually handicapped adults?  Where would they go?  Who would care for them when their aging parents passed away?  Karen is putting her passion and her discipline to work to make her corner of the world a better place.  It's a luxury we should not take for granted.

I wish you could have seen her speak.  She was so graceful, so intent on doing good, and so grateful for the chance to speak before a group of people who would listen. 

Please join me in thanking Karen for having the courage to be a voice for a population that all too many of us quietly overlook.

Participate in this week's Yellow Envelope Project.  It's easy.  Send a short note letting Karen know you heard about the work she is doing and that you think she shines.  Seal it in a yellow envelope (or white decorated with yellow markers).  Place the words, "Yellow Envelope Project" in the return address and commit to mailing it sometime before next Saturday when we post next week's recipient.

Here's her address:

It's that simple and it's that important.

Shining off until tomorrow...