October 6, 2020
Annual Tocqueville Society Event
Every year, The United Way of Central Maryland throws an event to celebrate its members, those who have donated $10,000 and more to the nonprofit. This year was no exception…except that the gathering was held virtually.
Society members gathered around their computer screens to hear from Chris Gardner, best-selling author and the inspiration for the Will Smith film, The Pursuit of Happyness, and to fete this year’s honorees.
Guy and Nupur Parekh Flynn received the Philanthropists of the Year award. Freeman and Jackie Hrabowski were recipients of the Mark Furst Volunteers of a Lifetime award. Johns Hopkins University was honored as Organization of the Year.
“It was terrific, particularly because we re-watched “Pursuit of Happyness” in the quarantine just two months ago. It was a terrific side benefit of being virtual – it was really impactful for the kids to understand that 40% of our neighbors live paycheck-to-paycheck and how those challenges have been made so much by COVID. It also prompted important discussion about why philanthropy is so important and why we support UW specifically for its multiplicative impacts. And then for them to hear Chris Gardner talk about globalization, working to be world class, and how none of us are owed anything – what an amazing night for our family. Thank you, UW!”
(September 29, 2020- Virtual)
