Remarks by XXXXXXXX, Event Co-Chair of “Nurturing Through Giving: A Mother’s Day Celebration,” Sponsored by XXXXXXX, New York, May 8, 2008.

It’s awesome to see so many of you here.

As some of you know, I’m XXXX. I’m one of the five“Desperate Housewives” who put together this Second AnnualMother’s Day Luncheon. The other four are ______. Let’s give them a Rachael Ray raucous hand.

This year we got especially lucky with our panelists.

  • To my right/left is ______. She and I are family, literally. She’s an attorney with a global activist organization and author of what’s become a legal classic in domestic violence.
  • To her right/left is ______. She started out professionally as a lawyer, then moved on to children’s TV and books. There’s more. Her novel for adults has been a best-seller.
  • To her right/left is ______. She has been an international leader in grassroots activism. Those causes range from ending genocide to learning to work together. Many of us in this room have learned from so much from her.

Our moderator is the electronic world’s “Town Crier.” She’s ______. She’s now with CNBC. Before that it was ABC News. She’s has put her reporting imprint on just about everything, be it presidential elections or Hurricane Katrina.

Let’s show our appreciation to these four. [Lead clapping].

[Pause]

We are here in this room today supporting our cause because: After 9/11, some women asked: What can we do to protect our families, our values, our way of life?

The answer we came up with was, well, a women’s response. We decided to give of ourselves, through collective action. Despite The Vote, The Pill, and Fat Paychecks, we women remain hardwired to locking hands and hearts. The rest is history. So much of what is safer, better, more enlightened has come from just that.

For us, the “Just That” has been, well, us in this room.

Talk about Beyond Our Wildest Dreams. When we started out, not one ofus had a clue. We had no idea that this new community would thrive.

But it did. And our children, husbands, lovers, parents seem to be noticing. They too seem to be getting it: Get out of yourself, get out of your way, and watch for the miracle.

[Pause]

I have a theory: This thing we call YYYYcould only happen in Manhattan. That’s because here we have a high-powered vision of philanthropy, great. But it’s sliced and diced by tough urban realism.

The realism comes, I’m convinced, from making it in a city that offers so much – at a price. So, you bet, we’re street-savvy in how we lend a hand. In fact, I see us as Giving Gurus for our children – and maybe even major foundations. Not all philanthropy ennobles.

Margaret Mead, who had an office in this city, understood the power of the “tribe” or folks like us. Mead observed, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Now let’s hear your observations …

Thank you. And Happy Mother’s Day.

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