Latest / Neighbourly: Real Stories of Care and Community / The Power of Relational Philanthropy | Revisiting Our Conversation With Doris Olafsen

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The Power of Relational Philanthropy | Revisiting Our Conversation With Doris Olafsen · Neighbourly: Real Stories of Care and Community

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Hey there. Johan here. Welcome back to Journey with Care. I'm so glad that you're
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here as we continue our replay series as we await the anticipated
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season 4 coming in February. Today, we're bringing
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back a a standout conversation from season 2 episode 3, where
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Wendy sat down with Doris Olafson. This episode struck a chord with
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many of our listeners when it first aired, and we got some amazing feedback on
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it. So whether it's your first time listening or your second, we think it's
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worth revisiting. Dora shared some of her incredible journey from growing up
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in poverty to becoming a coach, a connector that helps leaders
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realize their dreams. She and Wendy explore the idea of relational
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philanthropy, how giving can go beyond financial contributions. They
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talked about the multifaceted nature of poverty, the importance of
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whole person giving, and how real relationships can transform both
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donors and the cause that they support. There's so much
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wisdom here. It's an inspiring conversation full of practical insights and
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big picture hope. So let's dive right into this conversation with
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Wendy and Doris.
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Welcome to the Journey with Care podcast. I am so excited to
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introduce to you somebody very special to me here
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in Langley, BC. We have Doris
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Olofson. Welcome to the podcast. So much fun to be
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here in person with you. It is. We have gone to know each other over
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Zoom. Right? And we've become I feel that we've become good
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friends because I'm like, oh, I just need more Doris in my life. Everybody needs
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more Doris. So I was here in BC, and I'm thinking, oh, I have to
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introduce you. Well, I just love that we could actually be
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face to face because you have so much energy in life, and it's just
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every time I talk to you, it's a joy, but to actually meet few minutes
1:47
ago, we hugged for the first time, but we've, grown close over
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the last few months. You have been very
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helpful for me and for Care Impact, but can
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you tell us a little bit about yourself and what is it
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that you do? Wow. That's a really great question. I
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think I've had a lot of titles over the
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years about what I do, but I think what I do is
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I help people unlock
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that dream or that vision that's in their heart, and I help
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them find a way for that to come true. So I'm kind of I've been
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called a matchmaker. I've been called a coach when
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that wasn't my official title. My team gave me the title
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coach. And, basically, I love to see
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the reality of funds needed for visions realized.
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And in the scriptures, there's a story, and if you
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ask me who do I relate to most in scriptures, there's a story
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about this little boy that was sent. He brought this
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5 fishes and 2 loaves, and, but what
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about the guy that introduced the little boy? So his
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story doesn't often get told, and it's just a skinny
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little story in the scriptures, but it changed everything. It was a game
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changer. Go find lunch. Go find lunch.
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And Andrew went and found this little boy. Well,
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he's got something to give, and so the master asked for
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something. They went and found the resources, and
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Andrew introduced them. And then what happened? We know
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the story. The beauty of the story was that that
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connection changed everything in that moment, not
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just for the people that were fed, but for the people that were part of
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that, making that connection happen, and for the
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disciples. And everybody that was there, they were a witness to what
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a connection does, so I'm a connector, and I love to be
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that introducer. So I love to work with philanthropists,
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and I love to work with charities. And I've been
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involved in fundraising, development, advancement,
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philanthropy, whatever name you wanna put on it, for the last 25
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years, and I've had the joy of watching
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charities succeed because they
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have helped a donor's dream come true.
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No. That's beautiful, and that's what I've experienced coming to
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you. And, somebody, a friend, a mutual friend
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connected me and said, you need to talk to Doris because
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I knew that Care Impact was onto something,
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and I knew what we were developing was something new and needed
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across Canada. Research was showing that God was revealing that to
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us, but there was something missing that I I just, like, how do
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we get those loaves and fishes to the people? There
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I need some help here, and you were that person for us. And
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and it was so it is so helpful. You finished
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you helped me finish a project recently, a case for support, and it
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became so much more. It really helped articulate my why.
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And but tell me, like, so many times in ministry,
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we think of, well, how many children do we serve? How
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many bowls of soup? How many projects have we
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worked on, and that direct in person help
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with the most vulnerable. Now what I
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appreciate about you, you you see philanthropy. You live philanthropy
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like that is ministry because it is ministry.
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Can you help give us that perspective of how you
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see philanthropy and fundraising, not just as a
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necessary means to an end, but that in itself is
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ministry. Can you talk to that a bit? So there's
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2 ways of of coming at this conversation. I wanna
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come at it from the the funder side.
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The reality is we've seen the ads. It's in us to give.
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We were created to give. We're created to live in community. There's
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something that God has placed in us that makes
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us want to pay it forward or give back. Like, it
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there is something to that. But the adage about
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fundraising, like begging for money or donors
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being overwhelmed by requests coming their way, there's a
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way to actually engage with a donor in a
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place where they are living, and it's where
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their heart is, it's where their values are, it's what aligns
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with them and who they are and why they've been created,
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that the giving part, whether it's giving a
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$100, a $1,000, 10,000, a 100,000, or
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a $1,000,000, it goes to who they are as
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a person and what's important to them. For me, it's always been
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important to know the person on that side of the table, to
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really get to know the donor's heart. Right.
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Then it's more than just underwriting and and writing out a
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check so somebody else can go do work. There really that becomes partnership.
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That's right. When you know and I've been accused of this. I've worked for a
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number of charities, a couple of charities that, you know, if you know me, you'll
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know where I've worked over the years, but, and I've
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been known to tell donors this isn't the right charity for you to be involved
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in. And that's just speaks to
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the ethical approach that you have to have when you're talking to
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somebody about why they would want to give their money to
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something. It's meaningful, but it might not be right for them. It
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might not align with who they are, what's important to them, and where they want
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to make a difference. So it's understanding
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the donor, understanding the charity Mhmm. And knowing what the
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charity is doing, that they have credibility, that they have
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integrity, that they are about transformation, and they aren't
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transactional. That's where you get into the the numbers game. Right.
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So impact is super important. Outcomes are super
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important. But at the end of the day, transformation on both sides of
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the table is super important. And I think I've used the word
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super a lot here, but I mean, it's really important that
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it's not transactional, that it's transformational, and that it's
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ongoing. It's sort of that that loop of
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engaging with donors that can engage with charities,
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and then the charities are engaging with the donors. And it's like
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the humanity coming together and building a bridge and
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people working together to solve a common problem or
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make an initiative happen or underwrite a
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vision or a project that is impossible
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without both parties being involved. So Right. So I grew
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up in poverty. I am the daughter of a single
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mom. She had 3 kids back in the day. There was not any social
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assistance or so I know what it's like to live in
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poverty in Canada. I totally understand what it's like to be the
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9 year old girl wearing rubber boots with plastic bags on my
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feet in 40 below weather in Prince George,
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BC. Wow. And to have a 2 week old baby that I
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have to brother that I have to pick up after school and take home and
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get dinner made. So I understand what it's like to not
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have what I need, but I also understand
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what it meant to have community come into my
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mom's life and make all the difference as we
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were growing up. In that community, it was teeny tiny. We had
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no faith orientation at that time as a family, but this
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teeny tiny community came alongside my mom
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and helped her help us, and it was the community that she went to
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work with every day. So I understand what it is to have somebody
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believe in you and invest in you and help you
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see your potential as a person, and I was
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never treated as a charity case. I was always
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treated with integrity and respect that there's something in
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me that makes me want to help
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other boys and girls' families organizations
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that have a need that they can't meet. Yeah. And that's
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that's really interesting. And coming from a place of
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understanding as a child, you learned early on
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we need to need others. Yeah. And I think there's
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something very profound about that that maybe
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in a family that has everything or an organization or a church
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that has, we quickly
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lose that need for each other and
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that need for community. And one thing that I I learned,
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through you and and others around me is that
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me asking a potential donor to get
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involved is actually a sign of
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humility of just saying we need to work together, but
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knowing also that they need to be part of community
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too. There's a relational poverty on everybody's side. And so
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would you say that fundraising and philanthropy,
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doing fundraising is really an act of
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community development in some ways? So I was talking
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about that little girl that grew up in poverty, but then, you
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know, the Lord has opened doors, and I have walked with some of the
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wealthiest people in Canada. I have had the privilege of being
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and the pleasure of being in their company, but I've also been with some of
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the poorest people on the planet. And I've realized there's
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poverty looks different everywhere because some of those
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wealthy families are living in so much poverty. They might
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not have financial poverty, but they don't have community, or they don't have family,
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or they don't have fellowship, or they don't have meaning.
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And people with economic poverty, they quite
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often have other forms of wealth that
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people that have financial wealth are missing.
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So for me, somebody actually
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said it's so pastoral to be in the work Mhmm.
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Where you are bringing people together where a fullness
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is this this sense of fullness coming together in community
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for the fullness of the vision being realized on both
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sides, so not just on, you know, I'm I'm very
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anti, hero or, you know, there's
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phrases out there, white savior, all that. Like, that is totally
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not my domain, but I'm also not on the slick
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and marketed and bag lady on the is this gotta
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be authentic. It's gotta be real. It's gotta be real on both
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sides. It's gotta be real for the donor. It's gotta be real for the charity.
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Authenticity comes to the to the forefront
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of everything. If it's not there, it's pretty soon revealed.
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Yeah. For me, my greatest joy in life is working with people
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like you or working with a
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philanthropist who finds his way. Like, I've been dreaming about
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doing something like this for my whole life or working with a a
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fundraiser development person and helping
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them have the courage to just, you have
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something incredible to share. Like, don't be afraid. Well,
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you you have been so encouraging. Every time I
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come off on a high when we have our sessions, and and you've
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been coaching me for a few months now. And every time I come off on
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such a high and it it comes across, and I I do believe it
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is, in a very genuine space that you are an encourager. Wow. And you're
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you really coach and, like like, you can do this, Wendy. You know?
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And and we're gonna help you get there. Yes. That is possible. That is
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such a ministry to ministry leaders that we
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also need people to coach. And and I'm a big believer is
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find people that are smarter than you, wiser than you, that
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that have gone ahead of us and and can lead the way. And so
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I've really found for Care Impact that you've caught our
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vision, but then you've helped us and you've challenged me
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with it. And how do we get that communicated? What would you say
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to other, ministry leaders that are sort
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of feeling stuck, maybe feeling stuck like I was? Let's
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go back to that first conversation. I'm like, what do I do? Right? What
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would you tell them, people that are wanting to do ministry, but those
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budget lines just aren't moving, and those bake sales just aren't bringing
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in what they need? Yeah. Can I just before I say
14:30
something to speak to that, I just wanna go back to that first
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meeting and when I met you, and I thought I've told people,
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she's a pistol? Like, this girl this girl, she
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is so passionate about her
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calling. And I can't believe a bit in it. But
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you know what? I can't encourage people that can't be encouraged.
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And when I met you, and I have other clients too right now that I'm
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working with, that I just love working with them because they give me
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life because they are so passionate about what they're doing. And
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for me, just helping you see
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you have a treasure. You're a gem, but you also have
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a treasure that people are looking for. And, you know,
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whether you're you 2 or something, they still haven't found what they're looking for. They
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haven't met you yet. They haven't met you yet. So I would say to
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those other organizations, the ones that are where
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the leaders are just they're exhausted or they're they're fundraising, you know, they're
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trying to do it by the book, or my husband always used to say to
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me, just be you. Just be you. Just go to work today and just
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be you. And, I mean, I started out doing this, not
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really knowing what I was doing, and then the Lord was just
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gracious and merciful and brought people in and who coached me and
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mentored me along the way. Most of them were donors, and they told me what
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not to do and what to do, and I'm so grateful. And some of them
15:54
are still in my life Mhmm. Coaching me, but
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it's just be you. So to that charity
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leader, there was a reason you were called into this.
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There was a passion and a fire in your belly. If there
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wasn't, you might not be in the right place. Mhmm. But there
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was a reason you were called into this, and you have a message
16:16
that people are waiting to hear, or you have, a
16:20
mission that people have been looking for. And you just need to find
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those people, and they are there. The funders are there because they're looking for
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you too. So it's just be you
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and be true to the call that you have, and then get
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the skills. You you have the skills. You had all the
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tools. You just didn't know how to put them all together. Right. And it
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was beautiful watching
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my associate, Kim, and I, we talked about you after too. It was just
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so fun watching you wrestle through some of the hard
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questions we would ask, and you always knew the answers. You just
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hadn't you always knew the answers. You just didn't know how to put them or
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where to put them. So I would say to other charity leaders, you probably
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know. You just haven't maybe had the right questions asked of you
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or you haven't had some somebody that can direct you or just
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take this path or go down this way or what about this? And I
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think for all of us, sometimes when we hear our own voice, we think,
17:23
oh, that's the answer. Yeah. And you just don't
17:26
realize you knew it all along. Well, just being you, just
17:30
as a simple example, I walk into Walmart, and I see a
17:33
greeter. There's 2 kinds of greeters. 1 that is
17:37
just so happy to see me, and I wanna just give them a hug
17:41
because they're just a happy they're in the place to be. And then there's
17:44
others. I'm like, dude, just be well on
17:48
your way. Like, just cut these losses. Go find a job that
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you're passionate about. But I think we that's a very
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simple, facetious kind of example, but or
17:59
McDonald's or any business owner.
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But in nonprofit or in Christian ministry, we have
18:06
to find our sweet spot and be honest with that. I know for
18:10
myself, there's a lot of things I'm not good at.
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But if I just put myself in the perspective, well, this is what a nonprofit
18:17
should do and I'm gonna just suck it up and just be something inauthentic,
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I think I would be fairly miserable. And so, I
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really like that message. The other thing is it's pretty handy to
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be just you. It's easy. It's so authentic. It's so
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easy. It is. And if you're not afraid to be you, and I think
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that's, if you're not afraid to be you. I mean, that
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and being a fundraiser is not for the faint of heart because you're gonna get
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you might not get a ton of yeses until you figure
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out where you're going and how you're going. And even then, there may
18:51
be people that say, no, that's not my that's not my thing. And that's
18:54
okay because you're gonna get enough. You know, I'm working in Christian
18:58
ministry, especially. There's more than enough in the kingdom. For a
19:02
kingdom work, there is more than enough, and it just
19:05
needs to be unleashed. Again, that's relational poverty, though, I see because
19:09
there is more than enough, but people just need to know people and
19:13
align, not just for their their checkbook, but really for those
19:16
connections so that this philanthropist can be really passionate
19:20
about education or really passionate about coffee beans or whatever it
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is. There's a place for everybody in the
19:27
economy of God. Yeah. Absolutely. And, you know, it can be
19:31
the $5 philanthropist or the $5,000
19:35
philanthropist. It it philanthropist is such a lovely word because it's,
19:39
it's about the whole person giving. You know, the
19:43
definition of philanthropy is about a wholeness of giving. It's not
19:47
just about money, right? So you're actually asking people to engage with
19:50
their whole self, their whole life, and
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money is just one part of it. You're on a journey together, and
19:58
that's where the meaningful place is. And that's why I'm really excited about
20:02
for Care Impact because you're about relational equity
20:06
Mhmm. At the table, but you're also about you wanna bring people in.
20:10
This is gonna be a relational organization. So We always say everyone
20:14
belongs is part of the the child welfare puzzle. Yeah. Like, every
20:17
single person, maybe directly or indirectly,
20:21
but they're all part of it. Mhmm. We're all part of it, but
20:25
donors don't like to feel like ATM machines and that I first
20:28
heard that, I think Mark Peterson was doing a workshop, but he
20:32
said, don't ever treat a donor or a foundation or a
20:35
business like an ATM machine. And you know what? The people know
20:39
that the minute they, that's for the authenticity.
20:43
But if you're passionate about what you've been called to do, the mission that
20:46
you're on, the mandate that you have, and you've done your homework and your
20:50
due diligence and you have a plan and you're prepared,
20:54
there are people waiting for you to share that story with them,
20:58
and people will want to introduce you to other people that they
21:01
know. It's that whole connecting. Most of the
21:05
relationships I have are a result of somebody
21:09
introduced me to somebody that they know. Like, their
21:12
trust Yeah. Was part of the you know, that's
21:16
the equitable currency, I think, in this
21:19
work called fundraising at its core. It's if you
21:23
can't be trusted, you know, you're not I'm not gonna introduce you to
21:27
my friends or my neighbors or my family. But when
21:30
you gain trust, I mean, that that changes
21:34
everything. And then the other thing to remember is when people
21:38
give you money, they're giving you part of their heart.
21:42
Mhmm. And so you really have to be
21:46
mindful that you have been entrusted with something that's very
21:49
close to because they could give it in many ways. That's
21:53
right. To many organizations or to many things
21:56
and experiences that but they've chosen to give in this way,
22:00
so that is part of their heart. And then there's an
22:03
intimacy that comes with that, and then you'll probably get to know the the
22:07
family. And and it's not just the money. They wanna volunteer their time,
22:11
or they wanna introduce you to some of their colleagues at
22:15
work or their employees, and then they start to open up their spheres of
22:18
influence where they come and engage and they serve in your
22:22
organization or they become advocates and spokespeople. It's
22:26
not just about getting money. It's about engaging people
22:29
for a whole life experience. So you really have
22:33
to manage resources well
22:37
and with integrity. And, you know, there have been times
22:41
in in my life when I was actively fundraising
22:44
for organization where a project would have failed.
22:49
Well, rather than gloss over that or, you know, try
22:53
to make it something that it wasn't, I've gone back to the funder and
22:57
said, this failed. This project failed. What we had hoped would happen
23:01
didn't happen. Well, when you tell the truth and
23:04
when you tell the good and the bad, when things don't
23:08
go well, you're taking your trust quotient up to the
23:12
next level. Right? So relationship,
23:15
transformation, trust, integrity, like, there's just you've got it
23:19
all, Wendy. Like, I think I have I have a big dream for you, and
23:23
I love dreaming dreams for other people. I'm a dreamer too, so this
23:27
is dangerous here. I I traveled around the world
23:30
with a lot of people, and I always would ask them in Latin America. I'd
23:34
say, Kelly, so soeno, what is your dream? But I would ask the person
23:38
we were meeting with in Latin America, but I'd also
23:42
ask the person that we had taken. And Sure. Very often, the dreams
23:45
were compatible. And there was a lot of,
23:50
shared dreaming. And I have a big dream for Care
23:53
Impact. I have a big dream for Du Philanthropy. God
23:57
put Du Philanthropy in my heart during COVID,
24:01
and I just thought, I want something good to come out of COVID. There was
24:04
a lot of things that we all went through and different experiences that I
24:08
had as a as a new widow. Yeah. And I thought,
24:12
how will I spend the next season of my life? Yeah. Because you could have
24:16
done anything and made this a segue. Let's let's I'm gonna go to the
24:19
Caribbean, or I'm gonna just I don't have to work, but You don't have to
24:23
work, but you chose to do philanthropy and serve
24:27
people like myself. There must be an inner drive, a
24:30
dream within you. Yeah. Because I love watching dreams come true,
24:34
and I want to work with people and organizations
24:38
that are hungry to see a dream come true or God has put
24:42
a dream, a god sized dream in their heart, and they don't know how
24:45
to get from where they are to where they wanna go. And so
24:50
that's my dream for Du Philanthropy is that kingdom will
24:54
move forward and that God will use myself and my
24:57
associates. I have some incredible people that have said, I wanna be
25:01
part of this. And so I have, Kim Parker, a
25:05
writer, and Allison Chapman, who's just phenomenal,
25:09
on the development side, and, Scott Fahrenbacher, who's now
25:13
working with Habitat for Humanity. But all of them are my associates, and we
25:16
work together and collaboratively on different projects, but we all have the
25:20
same heart. Nice. We have a heart for God's kingdom to
25:24
move forward. We have a heart to see charities succeed, and we have a
25:28
heart for philanthropists to have their dreams come true too. So it's like
25:32
shared values, shared heart. I don't know if I told you this, but the
25:35
whole springboard for Care Impact led us to today.
25:39
It started with my husband and I had a literal dream
25:43
the same night we woke up from the same dream. It wrecked us in
25:47
a good way. We were like, what do we do with this? We didn't know
25:51
the full picture, and thank goodness we didn't because we would have been scared by
25:54
it. We we would have disqualified ourselves so quickly. But
25:58
it started with a dream, and we just put one foot in front of the
26:01
other, and, this is where we we ended up.
26:05
It's, and I can only imagine what God's going to do
26:09
as you connect agencies and frontline workers
26:13
with churches across our nation. God is
26:16
waiting and wanting those 2 to work together more
26:19
significantly. Before I came here today,
26:24
I live in a strata with 28 units, and,
26:28
we've been talking about doing something in the community. And in my church, we're
26:31
encouraged to have an outward, it's called, and so
26:35
to be constantly thinking outward. So our strata
26:39
has we're committed to our local food bank. And so
26:42
I I dropped off today. And so every month is a drop
26:46
off at the local food bank for the we're only 28 units, and I
26:50
when I unloaded my, vehicle before I got here, I
26:54
was like, oh my goodness. Like, I only could think was this little
26:58
community has, once again, is full of diapers and
27:01
all these things that are so desperately needed, but they were
27:05
just waiting to be asked to do something in the community.
27:09
Now they're excited about what can we do for December. Like, every month, it's like,
27:13
what can we do for this month? And I'm thinking, we should've been doing this
27:16
for years. We'll have to get Langley onto Care portal because well, that's what we're
27:20
finding, though. Like, we we have the Care portal that connects the
27:24
needs in the community that are identified by social services and front lines
27:28
With community, there's never a lack of resources. It blows
27:31
me away the kinds of requests and their individual requests as unique as the
27:35
child in the family situation. They come through and we're thinking, will this ever
27:39
get met? But sure enough, there's somebody that's a plumber. There's somebody
27:42
that loves to to bake. There's somebody that has this size of
27:46
clothing or this car seat. There's always enough stuff. And
27:50
what is beautiful is that there is an energy about that when we're
27:53
connecting people within the community. There's always
27:57
resources. Yeah. There's just a lack of connection. Yeah. That's a great
28:01
example that you you just gave. So if we go back to that little 9
28:05
year old girl in Prince George, and I used
28:08
to sing this song in my bathroom with a brush. Why can't we
28:12
be like storybook children is the the song, but I used to sing
28:15
that. And I used to dream dreams about one
28:19
day one day, I will live in a nice house, and one
28:23
day, I will because I started dreaming when I
28:26
was really little, but I didn't know I was dreaming. And then
28:30
when I met my husband and we got married, the song that we
28:34
danced to, our first dance was, dream. All you have to do
28:37
is dream, dream, dream. So dreaming is part of
28:41
my DNA, and I used to be that kid that teachers and
28:45
parents would say, quit dreaming. As I age, I
28:49
know it's totally okay to color outside the lines. It's
28:53
totally okay to dream big dreams. And I have seen so many dreams
28:56
come true for so many people, whether
29:00
they're a charity or a family in need
29:04
in my community or in another country, or it's a donor who's
29:07
just doesn't know how or is too afraid to,
29:11
or is nervous about getting involved or speaking to others
29:15
about their giving. I've watched people's lives
29:18
be transformed. I don't wanna spend the rest of my life helping
29:22
dreams come true. As long as God gives me breath, I wanna be that
29:26
person that said, Wendy, I
29:29
know that Care Impact is gonna change Canada. Amen.
29:34
Amen. The way the church engages. And
29:37
one day, we will just all be looking back saying, well, we've
29:41
always done it this way. But But it started with a dream. It started
29:45
with a dream. And you know what? With every dream, there's an equal amount of
29:49
need to get there, and and it seems like absolutely
29:52
impossible. But I've told people other people asking how
29:56
we're developing this and how do we get started. And and I said,
29:59
you know what? One of the best gifts for us, starting off with a
30:03
dream, but one of the best gifts for us was starting with $0. And
30:07
I'm actually serious about that because if we had a $1,000,000
30:10
in a bank account and somebody said, here you go, just go do good in
30:13
the world. Go make your dream come true. I don't I think we
30:17
woulda had a a rent sort of what everybody else is doing. We
30:21
wouldn't have fought for what we were dreaming. We wouldn't have needed
30:25
other people and invited people. We've gotten to know so many organizations, not
30:28
because, hey. Look. We're your dream come true. We're saying, this is our
30:32
dream. Can you envision this with us? Can we join together? And that
30:36
with the philanthropists. And all of our donors out there, I'm just so
30:39
grateful that you started to dream with us. You started to be
30:43
part of our story, not our story, but our
30:47
story, including you and I. And so it's no longer just the Harold and
30:51
Wendy show. It is all the people that we've been able to connect
30:55
with, the agencies and the the nonprofits and the
30:58
philanthropists. We have started dreaming together. And I realized when
31:02
God puts a dream in your heart, it's not just my dream
31:06
to keep. If I let it out and I'm bold enough to
31:09
just just put it out there on the table, This is what I say when
31:13
I go into churches or into, social service sector. I don't
31:17
have to sell them Kool Aid. I don't have to sell them that that's a
31:19
good idea. Because inevitably, within those pews, there's people that already it
31:23
awakens something they already have too. They're just figuring out their
31:26
purpose and part of that. And so that is
31:30
my my wish that we've got a long way to
31:33
go. I'm still dreaming. I still feel like I'm just this far
31:37
past the starting line. And we're gonna be continuously
31:41
inviting people to dream with us, and this dream is bigger than what we can
31:44
do. And that's why we partner with a lot of organizations too, because this dream
31:48
is bigger than what we can accomplish on our own. You've been
31:52
part of our dream, and you're making dreams come true. We
31:56
know, like, in that whole adage about, you know, get your head out of the
31:59
clouds, stop dreaming, if we didn't have those famous
32:03
heroes of the faith that have gone before us, like, I have a
32:06
dream. Yes. We all know. We don't even
32:10
have to all we have to say is, I have a dream, and we know
32:13
where that came from, and that dream changed our world that
32:17
we live in today. So I can't say
32:20
that for myself, but I do have big dreams for the people
32:24
that God brings into my path. And I'm so grateful, Wendy,
32:28
that Du Philanthropy gets to work with Carry
32:31
Impact. And here's a really funny little sideline. I've always
32:35
known my initials are d o. Like, I've
32:39
always known that, but it was only during COVID
32:43
that it hit me when I was praying and talking to my
32:47
kids about, you know, what would I call this chair, this
32:51
this coaching or consulting, whatever it is that I'm doing
32:55
encouraging, what would I call this little enterprise? And
32:59
so when we came up the name, you know, Doris Olofson Philanthropy,
33:03
and my daughter son. I can't remember which one. Just said, well, why don't we
33:07
just call it Du Philanthropy? And I thought,
33:10
oh, Du Philanthropy, Inc. It works. When I told
33:14
my lawyer, he goes, he just said when he was putting all the paperwork
33:17
together, he just said, that totally makes sense. It's who you
33:21
are. So my tagline is, let's do this.
33:25
So let's do this, and I got that from you. Yeah. You you helped
33:29
me, and you didn't even realize it sitting in your little Shasta trailer,
33:32
And I read your blackboard, and we're on Zoom, and I thought We get to
33:36
do this. And yours says we get to do this, and I just thought,
33:40
let's do this. Like, and you're talking about your dreams, and I just thought, let's
33:44
do this. So my tagline came from you, so I have to that to say
33:47
That's awesome. Yeah. And we're gonna keep dreaming, and we're gonna keep
33:51
inviting other people to dream with us. And as a result,
33:55
dreams will come true for children and families, for girls
33:58
in rubber boats with plastic bags on their her feet, and
34:02
for so many others. And dreams will come true to churches that are
34:06
tired right now, that are tired after a pandemic and wondering
34:09
up from down and where are their congregations going, what is the way
34:13
forward. It's gonna be dreams coming true for philanthropists that
34:17
wanna make a difference, but just wanting to see where they can actually put
34:20
value into the community. And
34:24
everybody can be part of this dream. So thank you so much, Doris, for
34:28
being part of this podcast and being part of my life.
34:31
I'm already looking to the future. We're already strategizing for next
34:35
year. I'm just so grateful to dream with
34:38
you. Me too. Thank you, Wendy.
34:42
Thank you for joining another conversation on Journey with Care,
34:46
where we inspire curious Canadians on their path of faith
34:49
and living life with purpose in community. Journey with Care is an
34:53
initiative of Care Impact, a Canadian charity dedicated to
34:57
connecting and equipping the whole church to journey well in community.
35:01
You can visit their website at careimpact. Ca, or visit journey with
35:04
care. Ca to get more information on weekly episodes, Journey
35:08
with Prayer, and details about our upcoming events and meetups. You can also leave us
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are on their own journeys of faith and purpose. Thank you for sharing
35:21
this podcast and helping these stories reach the community. Together, we can explore ways to
35:24
journey in a good way. And always remember to explore ways to journey in a
35:26
good way. And always remember to stay curious.