Stick to values

The most important of the Community Foundation's four core values is integrity. That means we conduct our work honestly and transparently, holding ourselves accountable to our commitments and for our words and actions. Nothing, we believe, is more critical to increasing charitable giving for our region and empowering donors to engage in the causes that are most important to them.

It's always nice when the best qualities of a corporate culture somehow rub off at home. When I walked into Ann's and Lindy's room last Wednesday night to tuck them into bed, I nearly tripped over a suspicious pile of pillows and chairs in the middle of the floor. "What's all this?" I asked. "Oh we were just playing," they said. I kissed them goodnight. As I made my way to the bedroom door, Ann stopped me and said "Mom, wait. I am going to tell you the absolute truth." It came out in one long sentence, as if she couldn't say it fast enough: "We were playing a game with the sticky worm I got from the dentist and throwing the worm into the air and trying to catch it and playing baseball with the worm and somehow on accident the worm got stuck up on the ceiling and we tried to get it down but we couldn't and so we built a tower to try to climb up and get it but we still couldn't reach it and we are so sorry and now the worm is stuck up on the ceiling, right there." Sure enough, dangling from the ceiling three feet above my head was a gummy, yellow worm.

Lesson learned for the Barker girls: Be honest about your mistakes; they don't get any less sticky.