Another important lesson my parents taught me is that we shouldn’t look to
government to solve many of our community’s problems.
We should pitch
in together and solve our own problems. Yes, as Mayor of
Tempe, I worked to limit government activity, but I didn’t want to leave holes
in our community services. Instead,
I looked for ways to bring
community members together to solve the problems government can’t address very
well.So, for example, we invited all the
faith-community organizations in Tempe together under an umbrella
called
“For
Our City.” From that beginning a homeless outreach program, called IHELP
(
Interfaith
Homeless Emergency Lodging Program) developed, involving dozens of churches,
synagogues and mosques. Through 30+ faith-congregations, IHELP provides
shelter, food, showers, and laundry services, and brings homeless people
together with service providers. Every day of the year.
Habitat
for Humanity, which I served for ten years, helps people earn a home.
Potential homeowners spend hundreds of hours building their own home with
volunteers from around the community. Then the homeowners still have to buy
their home, albeit on a no-interest loan. In working to build their own home,
people learn the skills to take care of it and have real pride of ownership. In
my ten years with Habitat, we ran our chapter as an “all volunteer”
organization, and we coordinated the work of thousands of volunteers. We built
houses, yes, but we also wove a tighter community fabric.
Fundraising is
a big need if you want to support charitable work. As Mayor, I had a unique
opportunity to shine the spotlight on charities to build their grass-roots
support.
It often meant doing some unusual things to attract the
attention of those who could help spread the word.I swam many
times in competitive events in the chilly water of Tempe’s Town Lake.
I
learned how to run, and then taught more than 1,200 people how to run ½
marathons. Together
we raised more than $1.3 million for Arizona charities. I also created the
Mayor’s Charity Challenge, and
challenged
members of the media to help raise money for charities by competing in a
mini Ironman.
I performed a
“soft
shoe” dance routine with a former Supreme Court Justice to raise
money to preserve her historic home.And even during the heat
of this campaign, I took time out to choreograph and perform to “Blue Suede
Shoes” and
raised
thousands of dollars for Arizona’s Chapter of the National Kidney
Foundation.The
most moving perhaps, was raising the funds for Tempe’s Healing
Field. It honors all the people who were killed in the United
States on September 11, 2001. I invite you to visit the Field in Tempe Beach
Park this year.
So that means there are lots of videos and pictures of
me out there, some moving and many embarrassing. But also, it points out that
I do my best to live my family’s values. Republicans call on
each of us to take personal responsibility. I do my best to fulfill that
responsibility.
So, in one more effort,
I have been “called out”
by my brother to complete an Ice Bucket Challenge to support research for
ALS, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. For more information
about ALS, go to
www.ALSA.org.
Here
is my completion of that challenge and, in turn,
I am
calling out Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, CBS5 Newscaster Catherine
Anaya and former Congressman Barry Goldwater, Jr. Each have long
supported our community's charities and causes. They have twenty four hours to
perform their own act of charity. I know each of them will.
Thank you
for your
consideration.
