Open Letter: Be The Seed Some seeds don't grow at all. Some seeds simply sustain.

Dear Neighbors,

As I look out at the birds eating seeds I've spread across the snow—placed carefully where the wind won't whisk them away—I'm reminded that seeds are so much more than just potential for growth.

When we launched #greatGive06492 years ago, "be the seed" became our metaphorical branding, signaling growth and the expansion of our connections in the community. "Be the seed that makes great things grow" is our rallying cry. But today, watching these winter birds, I realize seeds serve a deeper purpose.

A few years ago, during the Be The Seed Benefit Performance, we shared a skit about squirrels and Great Oaks, marveling at how any mighty oak manages to grow when so many acorns become squirrel food. The truth is, some seeds never become trees. Some seeds exist purely to sustain life—to feed the incidental creatures that depend on our actions for their survival

These are survival times for nonprofits. Whether an organization is a fully volunteer project or one whose executive director earns the equivalent of another organization's entire budget, each exists in unprecedented survival mode. Some of our sustaining contributors are similarly evaluating what they can do differently, or need to pause while finances catch up or regroup.

We are all part of making a community whole. From nonprofits dedicated to a few evenings of community entertainment with their voices, to care for abused pets, to feeding our neighbors—heart and soul—with food or opportunities, each organization contributes something essential.

So if you're still among those with the bandwidth to commit—whether that's buying seeds for the birds in your backyard or being the seed for this community initiative—you can be both: a seed that sustains and a seed that represents the growth of a connected community.

Our 36-hour giving day on May 6-7, 2025, will once again bring together 20 nonprofits in our community. We're grateful that the James H. Napier Trustees have committed again in 2026 as sponsors, with sponsor dollars allocated based on the rate of community giving among participating nonprofits.

Thank you for considering how you can Be The Seed. A volunteer for any of our partners. A sponsor for the May giving day. $500, 1000, or more. Mark your calendar to give gifts as little as $10 to any or all of our partners.

Wallingford Public Library Spanish Community of Wallingford (SCOW) Gaylord Specialty Healthcare Fostering Family Hope The Sisters' Project Soul Friends, Inc WECARE Wallingford Family YMCA Masters Manna Inc. Food Pantry & Resource Center Capital for Change, Inc. WPAA - TV and Community Media Center TriCircle Wallingford Chorus Connecticut Foodshare A Kinder Ground, Inc. CT STEM Academy

Joining us in 2026: Columbus House, Literacy Volunteers of Central CT, Bikers Against Animal Cruelty, Inc - BAAC

Thanks to those who have been seeds of growth on our journey together for five years. The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven The Regan Foundation Record-Journal now CT Hearst Wallingford Elks Lodge Wallingford Rotary Club Wallingford Community Women

Susan Adele Huizenga

WPAA-TV and Community Media Volunteer Executive Director, #greatGIVE06492 Facilitator