Here’s something to imagine — 1,000 people giving $1,000. Or 10,000 people giving $100. Or 100,000 people giving $10.

Or, as we prepare to celebrate National Philanthropy Day on November 12, imagine the impact of a single $1 million gift, like the one that Jane Stephens Comer made as the first woman in Alabama to join the national Women Moving Millions Campaign. Comer, chosen as the William M. and Virginia B. Spencer Outstanding Philanthropist in 2009, made her $1 million gift because she recognized the importance of women supporting the needs of other women. Just a few months ago, she made a $5 million gift to UAB, to be used in partnership with the Alys Stephens Center for a cultural arts education program for Birmingham-area children in pre-school through high school.

In both cases, she sets a standard for philanthropy we can all aspire to. Maybe we can’t give $5 million or even $1 million. But whatever we can give, joined with the gifts of others, can be just as significant in transforming our community forever.

We also can give of our time, as she and the other National Philanthropy Day honorees do. When we honor these top winners and other Volunteers in Philanthropy at the annual luncheon, organized by the Alabama Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, we are honoring the generous heart of our whole community and the power of that generosity to change the world.

In addition to Jane Comer, the annual awards honor Mike Warren, Outstanding Civic Leader; Hannah Franklin, Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy; Tom Armstrong, Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham Outstanding Professional Advisor; Coca Cola Bottling Company United. Outstanding Corporate Citizen; Habitat for Humanity of Greater Birmingham, Outstanding Charitable Organization, and Monty Hogewood, William S. Roth Outstanding Fundraising Executive.

For more about how you can be part of National Philanthropy Day, contact the AFP office or check the organization’s website. And, in the meantime, remember that we are all part of what makes our generous community so special. Find out more about that as part of this week’s 50 Ways to Love Our Community.

Jay LeCroy is a science teacher in a county outside of the Community Foundation’s geographic area. But he still has an Imagine idea well worth sharing.

At Isabella High School in Maplesville, AL, he explains, he is “struggling to teach and inspire a generation of students in a small country school that lacks a lab and supplies. Yes, that’s right, I teach middle and high school science in all areas without a lab. My goal is to give each student a chance to experience a rewarding career in science and engineering, but I’m afraid that many students are slipping through the cracks of a poorly funded system.”

Despite these challenges, LeCroy has a dream:
I have a “shovel-ready project” to build a lab and science classrooms at my school. We need a lab large enough to house as many as 35 students. It would be used for all areas of science and is desperately needed. I teach science in a small school in rural Alabama. I teach all areas in science from 7th to 12th grades. Since Isabella is located in the country—meaning we don’t even have a traffic light, and the nearest town with a post office or bank is nearly 10 miles away–it is a high-need school in a poor community. We are a Title I school.

I am attempting to build a strong science program. I do not have access to gas or water in my classroom. When I arrived two years ago, I did not have microscopes, beakers, flasks etc…I still don’t have enough. Our needs are great. I work out of a room that was never meant to be used for science.

What I do have access to is smart, well-behaved students often from impoverished homes who are eager to learn but have never been given the opportunity to love science in its “hands-on” state. They are so excited to have been introduced to some science labs that a university nearly 30 miles away has been willing to conduct (through a partnership with the Alabama Math and Science Technology Initiative, which the Community Foundation has supported).

Just these experiments have really sparked an interest in things we might do someday. Our dream is to host lively science classes in our own laboratory—furnished with all the essentials—and awaken the minds of some future scientists or engineers. Never more would people be able to look with disdain on the science shortcomings of Alabama students.

Having introduced science labs to the 8th-12th graders has had the coolest effect here: younger students, including fourth graders and second graders with older siblings in my class, have visited to let me know that they can’t wait to take science here. Imagine the inspiration when all of our students (we’re K-12) walk into to a science laboratory and begin to work.

We have students that can go into the science fields such as engineering or medicine if they are properly trained in high school. These kids are sharp, and in spite of our lack of funding, some have the ability to flourish even now on the college preparatory tests. We are letting a generation slip through the cracks.

It is a shame not to maximize their learning potential for the over-tired excuse, “lack of funding.” Whatever happened to, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way”? My science colleague and I are enthusiastic and determined. With your help, we can provide the proper science education to propel our students into a lifetime of curiosity and love of learning about science.

If you help my school, I pledge to use your program to create a curriculum that promotes technological literacy, that requires the students to think on their feet, and that develops tomorrow’s work force today. History has shown that the few alumni that has gone on to engineering or medicine has relocated to Birmingham and Shelby County. Along with Alabama Science in Motion, BEST Robotics, and with your help, I am building a project-based learning program at a small, poor county in central Alabama.

If you will take care of the science funding, I will gladly take care of the science instruction. Never before has it been so important for students to see our country’s investment in their education.

Interested? Find out more from Jay LeCroy at Isabella High School in Maplesville, Alabama.

Amanda Wilson, 15, is another Fresh Air Family participant who has been doing some thinking about the future. Consider her idea idea about what her community might look like in 50 years — “a world where more people are into activities.”

Instead of families sitting in front of electronics all day (says Amanda), they should spend that valuable time together.

I want improvements in technology, but for good uses, not bad. For example, lazy games and TV where you just sit and play or watch are bad. Games that bring the family closer together, while exercising and using energy, are good.

I would like a clean and safe environment! Good health comes from a clean environment. With a safe environment you don’t have to worry all the time about your children and their safety. I would like to see a stronger community with fun, faith-filled activities for the family bonding.

A main improvement I want to see is peace in the world. A world that no longer needs more troops, Marines, Navy, Air Force, and all the other organizations that fight to free our world. I want to see families together because the men don’t have to go to war. I don’t want to see rooms with pictures of the loved ones who died in the war. I want to see happy families, safe and sound in their own homes.

I would also like to see more opportunities for boys and girls to play sports without needing money or not thinking they are not good enough. It would be great to have fun and enjoy their success! That is what I want my community to look like in 50 years!

What do YOU imagine? We’re still looking for ideas as we support our new Community Catalyst Funds.

The Fresh Air Family organization challenges its participants to experience the natural world and learn new things, including how to imagine a future 50 years from now. For 13-year-old Brennan Fitzgerald, a look into the future starts with a walk outdoors.

Here’s what Brennan imagines:
Trees line a path with several people walking down it. A dog does a trick and a child laughs. That is what I want our world to look like in 50 years. One major thing I want to see is alternate energy sources. Solar powered cars would be a great way of conserving energy. Converting the water power would also save energy.

Another thing that we need is less obesity. Today one of the main causes of obesity is lack of exercise. Our community needs more gardens and paths to be walked on. More biking trails would be nice too. Volunteer work that involves getting outside would help people’s fitness and our community’s poverty.

One more thing I want to see in 50 years is a healthier planet. If trucks that pick up recycling as well as garbage were everywhere, it would encourage more people to recycle. If more people used cloth grocery bags, it would greatly reduce waste. Our world today needs a lot of improvement. But a lot can be done in 50 years.

Stay tuned for more from other thoughtful teens.

If you ever checked out the lists of meetings, sector champions and other documents on the old Yes We Can! Birmingham website, you should bookmark a new place to turn for information about the next phase of this grassroots initiative of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham. From now on, when you want to know more about Yes We Can! Birmingham and the new Birmingham Education Foundation, go to www.bhameducationfoundation.org.

Don’t get confused, because there definitely are other Birmingham Education Foundations, serving places named Birmingham that are located in Michigan and even England. So you can’t easily find it by Googling.

You can also find out more by reading this week’s “50 Ways to Love Your Community,” which explains how the voices of 2,000 people became a Community Agreement now guiding the work of this new local education foundation. Be a part of what happens next by attending the update and celebration at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 3 at the downtown Birmingham Public Library or e-mail Karen Rolen to find out more.

Just over a year ago, the parents, teachers and community leaders of Birmingham spoke, and Yes We Can! Birmingham listened. The result was a Community Agreement, summarizing all the things the people of Birmingham want for their children and their public school system. Thanks to Yes We Can! Birmingham, a grassroots initiative of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, people were able to lift up their voices and be heard, creating a Community Agreement that has become part of the Birmingham Board of Education strategic plan.

The Community Agreement also is the guiding principle for the Birmingham Education Foundation, which on November 3 will announce the next stage for Yes We Can! Birmingham and plans for the work of this new nonprofit.

Join the BEF board and volunteers for the official community update on Yes We Can! Birmingham and the next steps for BEF on Tuesday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the main branch of the Birmingham Public Library downtown in the Arrington Auditorium on the third floor of the Linn-Henley Research Library. The announcement and grant presentation will be at approximately 6 p.m.

Even if you were not part of the original initiative, now is your time to come and find out what will happen next, as we work together to make the Birmingham public school system the best it can be — for all our children and for our whole community.

Community Foundation staffers love to see our grants in action, whether it is a reading program for kids or a new building for UAB. On Saturday, Oct. 31, several of our staffers will join the great volunteers who have been building a new home for Debra Williams in Montevallo, supported in part by a grant from our Community Funds.

We invite you to join us at 8 a.m. Look for Emily Rushing and James McCrary at the building site, 391 County Road 206, not far from downtown Montevallo. You can get the full directions from Habitat (e-mail Jennifer Smith) or call her at 780-1234.

Once upon a time, the Hoover property that now makes up Aldridge Botanical Gardens was the home of Eddie and Kay Aldridge. On Oct. 27, the house that has become the headquarters for the gardens once again became a place for the Aldridges to greet their guests, as honorary hosts for the Community Builder Legacy Society lunch of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham.

Despite the dreary weather, every enjoyed their meal and the great stories of long-ago donors like John Gadd and Annie Torrance. Their legacy gifts to the Community Foundation in the past make possible exciting initiatives today, such as Yes We Can! Birmingham to support Birmingham City Schools and the Three Parks Initiative to make our community a national leader in open space. We also heard from Maria Campbell, Eddie Friend and Eddie Aldridge, three of those who are planning legacy gifts today that will support our community and a variety of specific charitable purposes forever.

We love the opportunity to honor our Community Builders today for their gifts that will make possible the transformational work of the Community Foundation in the future. If you want to know more about how you can be part of our work through your own legacy gift, contact Erin Stephenson, our Director of Gift Planning, or go to our website for more about Community Builders.

And, whenever you get the chance, visit Aldridge Gardens as a reminder of how we all can put down roots today that will bear great fruit in years to come.

What does it mean to LIVE UNITED? For the annual United Way of Central Alabama campaign, the largest fundraising event in the state, LIVE UNITED means bringing people together to meet increasing needs.

This year, campaign leaders aim to raise $37.2 million in this workplace-giving campaign, because they know the needs of our community are still growing. By the time the campaign ends Dec. 10, they expect to meet this goal, the same as the goal in 2008, and make this another successful UWCA campaign.

Find out more about the behind-the-scenes work of loaned executives and what you can do to LIVE UNITED all year long, as one of 50 Ways to Love Our Community. Or go to United Way’s website for more about how you can help to build this important resource for our community.

More than 150 hikers came out on Oct. 18 for the first opportunity this fall to explore new trails and historic structures at Red Mountain Park. What a great day it was to be outdoors and to see more of the 1,200-acre property that is not yet officially open to the public.

With plans for a 20-acre lake, a 6.8-mile loop trail and much more, there is plenty to look forward to as well as much to enjoy right now with park tours planned for every third Sunday each month through April. You can also check out a new Red Mountain Park website, once the home of the Friends of Red Mountain Park. As of last week, the Friends group set up a separate site, so both are now available as great connections to the park.

Look for efforts to move ahead on raising funds to complete all the great park plans. Startup dollars were raised through the Three Parks Initiative, led by Region 2020 and the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, and are still coming in as businesses and foundations fulfill their pledges.

See you at the next hike on Nov. 15 at 2 p.m., starting at Frankfurt Drive off Lakeshore Drive.