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I have written about the THEA foundation at some length because it’s a model that can be expanded or replicated across the country, wherever arts education has been given short shrift, and I hope we can generate the interest and get the backing to do it. I’ve also highlighted THEA because it provides further evidence that passionate, innovative people with the power to change many lives are everywhere. David Leopoulos has brought great honor to his daughter’s memory and kept her spirit alive in the eyes of young people discovering the arts for the first time.

Most communities have people who want to pursue noble goals. Maybe you’re one of them. If you are, I hope David’s example will give you the confidence to try. If you’re willing to support someone like him, be on the lookout: he or she may live next door.

You may be reading this and thinking, “Well, I have a great giving idea, but I don’t have a friend who was president or who’s a successful Washington lawyer. What can I do?” Here’s a story anyone with energy, imagination, and commitment can emulate.

Twenty-five years ago Edward and Maya Manley’s daughter, then just fourteen, developed a brain tumor. Surgery and chemotherapy proved effective, and she went on to lead a full life. But their struggle left the Manleys with a desire to do something to help families in the same situation. At first they tried raising funds to support more brain tumor research, but after a few years they decided what they really wanted to do was to create a support network for the families. In September 1996, along with Clint Greenbaum, another parent of a survivor, they founded the Making Headway Foundation, to help children with brain and spinal cord tumors. Starting small and growing to meet the demand for its work, Headway now provides support for children and their families before, during, and after hospital care, including free counseling, support groups, and, when surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy have caused learning disabilities, education remediation services. When the children don’t survive, Making Headway offers support to the families, including assistance when needed in paying for funeral expenses.

Hillary and I met the Manleys when we moved to Chappaqua. They live about two miles from us, and we always try to attend the Family Fun Day they host every June in their backyard for about four hundred people. Brave families with kids who want to laugh again and friends of the foundation enjoy games, a show, a petting zoo, and great barbecue.

How do the Manleys cover the foundation’s budget, which has grown to more than $800,000 a year? Though they welcome contributions on their Web site and receive donations through the United Way, they raise most of their funds in small amounts from people at events, including a “walk by the water” at Point Lookout, New York, two golf tournaments, a dinner dance, and a concert. In January 2007, they sold tickets at $75 and $100 to a performance by Strawberry Fields, a delightful Beatles tribute band. The foundation also solicits toys and games for young patients and their siblings during the hospital stay and has recently established a medical research fund to which donors can direct their gifts. Making Headway is as excellent model for putting a good idea into action by asking for help from friends, family, neighbors, and those who share a passion for the cause. It’s something you could do.

TEN

Organizing Markets for the Public Good

ONE OF THE most interesting things I’ve learned since leaving the presidency and entering the NGO and business worlds is how many markets for “public goods”—from lifesaving medications to clean energy products and energy-efficient practices—are disorganized and unnecessarily small. There are enormous opportunities for businesses to increase profits, and for NGOs to make contributors’ money go further, by organizing and enlarging such markets. Though we may not think of it as giving in the usual sense, organizing and enlarging public goods markets are important