As an avid Indianapolis Colts fan, I’m glued to my TV whenever there’s a game.  I cheer on my boys in blue and white, and I cringe every time Manning throws an interception or someone else drops a ball.  It’s no secret that the last two weeks have been tough ones for the Colts.  Part of the reason I love and respect the Colts, though, has nothing to do with their performance on the field.  It’s the team’s serious commitment to giving back to Indianapolis.  Canal swimming incidents aside, most of the guys seem to do a great job as role models for giving back to the community.  They not only donate their money, but even the rookies can be seen participating in events like the Play60 campaign with local kids to fight childhood obesity.  The team as a whole believes in service to the community, and that’s particularly evident with Peyton Manning.  Most of Indianapolis is aware that his name appears on a children’s hospital, and many nonprofit organizations have benefited from the generosity of his Peyback Foundation.  I was fortunate enough to be on a grant writing team for a proposal that was funded by Peyback last year, and I find it admirable that Peyton & his wife are able to support such a large number of organizations.  I think this is a perfect time for me to talk about an experience I had with none other than number 18 himself.

Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in Peyback Foundation’s Thanksgiving food giveaway.  Marsh Supermarkets played a large role in supplying food for the giveaway, and volunteers unloaded nearly three semis full of food.  It was my first year volunteering with Peyback, and it was also the first time I’d ever participated in such a large event.  I had a great time meeting other volunteers and those who received the groceries.  Some people cried as they received their food, and that image serves as a strong reminder to me of the power of human contact and relationships.

Even though I spent less than a minute with most people who drove through, the personal touch of asking people where they wanted their groceries or chatting with them about their Thanksgiving plans made a difference to me and hopefully to the people I spoke with.  We can certainly give our money; without it, events like this wouldn’t be possible.  We can also give our time, which is necessary to carry out the event.  However, we must be personally invested in our service.  Service is more than a check or a few hours of our time.  Service is about finding a need that someone has and figuring out how you can personally address it on a one-to-one level.   Part of the need is physical; people need food to prepare on a special holiday.

Groceries packed & ready to go from Marsh!

Part of the need, though, is our common need to feel heard, recognized, and known by our neighbors.  If I can meet someone’s basic physical needs, but I don’t bother to talk or connect with them, I don’t think I’ve really been present in my service.  How many times do we do a service project, only to be removed from the people we’re actually serving?   A willingness to be genuine with those who cross our path is a hallmark of a commitment to service.

That brings me to Peyton.  Once the food distribution was underway, Peyton himself began to walk around and talk to volunteers. I should point out that there were no news crews, no interviews, nothing to indicate that Peyton was being recognized publicly for his generosity. Instead, he was coming by to thank all of us personally for helping out.

Volunteers at the Peyback Foundation Thanksgiving food giveaway

He walked over to our group, introduced himself, and talked with us about how things were going. He was incredibly humble, and he seemed genuinely appreciative that people had come to help.  I watched him go up to a car that came through the line, and the people in the car had an experience they will probably never forget.   (It’s not every day that Peyton Manning walks up to your car window and tells you to have a happy Thanksgiving.)

Though this was the first time I had met him, it was immediately clear to me that he is willing to interact with those that his generosity touches.  I gained a new respect for the athlete whose football talents grace my TV on Sunday afternoons.  While we might groan every time we see him throw an interception on TV, Peyton does an incredible job of intercepting community needs in Indianapolis. However the season turns out this year, Indianapolis can be thankful for their quarterback and his team.

Millennial.  What comes to mind when you first hear the word?  Usually, it’s a picture of a young adult who’s simultaneously tweeting, texting, and touching some kind of other technology.  Let’s face it- there are entire books about how to understand and manage these “kids.”  We do 20 things at once, move quickly, crave flexibility and creativity in our jobs, and we know that we probably won’t work for one company for the rest of our lives.  There are thousands of us out there whose job it is to translate your brand to Twitter and Facebook, even though you’ve never tweeted before in your life.  Companies and nonprofits need Millennials because we understand these networks.  In the nonprofit world, tweets might translate to dollars donated and likes often translate to volunteers.  I have some good friends who do this kind of work with social media, and they do a great job.

A blog could be considered social media, but this project, indymillennial, isn’t about that.  It’s about the real relationships I have with the people and projects in Indianapolis as one of these Millennials.  It’s about my journey to be a leader in the nonprofit sector so that I can make Indianapolis a better place to live, work, and play.  Even though I’m blogging about these experiences, I think my personal relationships with the people I meet are more important than how many friends I have on a social network.  Doing good and making an impact are more important to me than tweeting.  I don’t think I’m an anomaly either.  There’s a large number of strongly committed, passionate, creative Millennials in this city who have good ideas they want to share.  In the coming months, some of them will share their ideas and their stories in this space.

Just try to ignore the part where the ideas come out 140 characters at a time.  We’re working on it.