Yesterday was the Fancy Flours cookie reveal.  It was my big chance to unveil a creative way to use an Eiffel Tower cookie cutter to celebrate National Teacher Appreciation Week.  If you are a regular visitor to the House of Shine than you might expect that today we would be selecting the holiday and the cookie cutter to be used in June.  

It will have to wait until tomorrow.  I received a postcard in the mail yesterday and today all I want to do is talk about shining.

What makes someone so passionate and so committed to a cause that does not either directly or adversely effect his life?  What makes a person so empathic and so socially conscious that they would literally make a career out of helping a segment of the population so easily dismissed by so many?

I don't know, but thank goodness for Phil K. and everyone like him.

Face it.  Most of us are way more concerned about the latest spring fashions, our next home improvement, or the size of our personal bank accounts to worry about a population that many would argue should fend for themselves. 

Phil was my next door neighbor growing up.  He is older than I am, so my memories of him are reduced to things such as his occasionally babysitting; holiday visits with my parents when home from the University of Florida; and funny, funny Christmas cards recanting adventures with friends after having moved on from college. 

Somewhere in all that history, Phil started a non-profit group called the Harvest of Hope Foundation.  The purpose of the non-profit is to provide emergency and educational financial relief to migrant farmers and their families.

Have I mentioned that we grew up 30 minutes outside of Manhattan where, if there were migrant workers, I was woefully ignorant?  And, have I also mentioned that Phil started this non-profit group years ago with money that was left to him when his grandmother passed away?  

I can think of a lot of young people who would do a lot of things with an unexpected windfall of money.  Most of them do not include forgoing a long list of wants to provide for the needs of people you do not know.

Phil shines!  Is it #2 Creating the non-profit, Harvest of Hope to fill a need that was not being filled; # 3 Using his Strengths to make a difference in the world;  #4 Keeping Perspective and being the antithesis of self-absorbed; #7 Rejecting Mediocrity by going full throttle and dedicating his entire professional career to helping migrant workers and their families; #8 Being Relentlessly Passionate, by sending annual letters and updates, applying for grants, and never giving up; or is it #10 Spreading Shine by distributing over 800,000 to overlooked people in need?

Hard to know which of the principles from our Shine Manifesto that Phil most exemplifies, but rest assured I know shine when I see it.

The postcard I received from Phil requested that I make a $5.00 donation by texting: HOHFEST, to: 20222.  

Embarrassingly enough, $4.82 is what I spend on my Starbucks coffee.  I think today I'll forgo the coffee and try to shine a little myself.  I hope you will considering joining me.

To learn more about migrant workers and the Harvest of Hope Foundation, or if my texting information does not work, visit www.harvestofhope.net.

Shining off until tomorrow...