Be a giver

Two things happened this week, one sad and one triumphant, that remind me of how important it is to give back to the people around you.  As I wrote on Tuesday, the arenas of construction and construction management education lost a true ally.  Mark Benjamin gave a lot of his time and effort into building Morley Builders and into supporting ACCE, ASC and other vehicles for supporting CM education.  He was a busy guy, but he understood the importance of giving back to the construction industry.  His contributions will be sadly missed.

More recently, we had a local example of giving back that has a much happier ending.  On Monday, Tony Moayed, Steve Hunter and Ken Cohen of TMCS and Tricorp Hearn Construction held a golf tournament fundraiser to benefit the Sac State Construction Management Department.  Tony, Steve and Ken have been supporting this tournament for several years, through good times and bad.  This year they truly outdid themselves this year, raising a tournament record $25,188!

Like Mark was, Tony, Steve and Ken are busy guys.  But they know the importance of giving back and have done so generously and in style.  I personally want to thank them for all of their generosity over the years.  Tony's involvement goes back a long time.  He was an instructor at Sac State and was one of the guys who got our ASC Reno competition teams off the ground.  He's a forefather of one of the events that allows Sac State CM to display its greatness to the greater public.

If you read this, I want you to take two things away from it:  1) show gratitude to those that help you.  Gratitude seems to be a dying art these days, but don't be complicit in its demise.  Thank those that help you with their money and time.  You know who those people are.  Shoot them an e-mail, or better yet, pick up the phone and call them.  When you see them, tell them "thanks for all you do."  It's easy and it makes everyone feel better.  2) At some point in your life, you will be in a position to give back.  So do it.  If you're a Sac State CM student, you have, directly or indirectly, benefited from someone's help (actually, a lot of peoples' help).  Pay it forward!  Be a giver.