. . . to whom much has been given, much will be required.
—Luke 12:48
It often happened before I went to Sunday school as a young boy.
On my way out the door, my mother would frantically search through the kitchen cupboard and her purse looking for money.
Finally she’d pull out an old wrinkled dollar bill or some change from her red jar, and putting it in my small hand, she’d say, “Honey, we’re down to our last dollar.
When they pass the collection plate around, be sure to put this in it, because we need some money.”
I knew we needed money but didn’t know we were poor, and I truly believe there were times I gave away our last dollar.
However, giving the money away made my mother believe something supernatural would happen.
Her faith strengthened mine, as it taught me the joy of giving.
I saw that my mother, in giving away that last dollar, received so much more than from anything she could have bought with it.
Each time I read a parable told by Jesus in Luke 21:1–4, I think about my mother.
Here, he compares a poor widow’s contribution of two small copper coins to the charitable gifts of rich people.
To paraphrase Jesus, a destitute person who gives what he or she must live on is more generous than wealthy people whose contributions do not alter their affluent lifestyle.
Some of the most charitable people on this earth are those dedicated men and women across America who collectively volunteer millions of hours of their time to their churches and local communities.
Yes, they give their money.
But those selfless hours they spend on bake sales, collecting and recycling old clothes, and conducting Bible study classes represent the spirit behind their giving.
My firsthand knowledge of this first came from seeing my mother volunteering her time even while she ran a household of eight needy children, always finding time to be a volunteer in the Boy Scouts, Campfire Girls, and the PTA.
Today I see my wife, Thelma, active in our church and serving on several community boards.
Another lesson that my mother taught us about giving is the way she never let a hobo who came to our door go away hungry.
And because we lived right next to the railroad tracks, hobos stopped by frequently for a free meal.
Whenever one came to our door, she’d always take food from our refrigerator and serve him on the front porch.
Years later, I found out that a painted sign on a power pole in front of our property let them know they were welcome at the Steward home.
Although a good portion of my time is spent traveling across the country on business trips, I set aside time to serve my community.
I am currently a board member of fourteen charitable and civic organizations.
I am a board director of United Way of St. Louis, Boy Scouts of America, Toys for Tots, Barnes Jewish Hospital, Webster University, Ronald McDonald House, Inroads, the Benevolent Society Association, Regional Commerce Growth Association, and Civic Progress, to name a few.
Civic Progress is an organization consisting of members of the area’s largest companies; its mission is guiding and supporting the community and its various charitable groups.
I’m slated to serve as the board chairman of United Way of St. Louis in 2006.
Our United Way unit is ranked as one of the top in the United States; in 2002, it raised in excess of $67 million.
I am frequently asked to serve on corporate boards of publicly held companies, but so far I’ve turned them all down.
“You can average $50,000 in fees per corporate board,” one friend advised me, “and you can also get valuable stock options.”
Another friend says his own annual director’s fees exceed $250,000 from four corporate boards.
If it was a matter of money, I wouldn’t be on any boards, because focusing on my own business is the best use of my time.
But it’s not about the money.
Giving my time and money to the community is a part of my life that I cherish.
As Jesus teaches in Luke 12:48:
“to whom much has been given, much will be required.”
For the past nine years, I have tithed, as the Bible teaches us, which means a minimum of 10 percent of my personal income goes to charity.
Personal giving aside, my company strives to be a good corporate citizen.
We exist to serve our employees, customers, vendors, partners,
and the community.
On this subject, I believe every business is obligated to give back to the community.
It’s a twoway street.
The schools contribute to the welfare of its local companies by providing good educations to its children.
Let’s keep in mind that the boys and girls in our schools represent a large pool of future talent in the local workforce.
Then too, I consider institutions such as the art museum, symphony, opera, and professional sports teams as valuable community assets.
That’s because they attract employees and customers to live in the St. Louis area.
Likewise, excellent hospitals, strong police protection, and colleges benefit a city’s general public and hence, its home-based companies.
A viable community provides real value to our company.
While our reason for giving is not focused on receiving, it’s obvious that good corporate citizens really do receive in return, though not necessarily from those whom they serve.
A 2002 survey taken by America’s Research Group revealed convincing statistical evidence that being a good corporate citizen enhances a company’s bottom line.
The ARG study disclosed the following:
• 63 percent of Americans stated they would purchase more goods and services from a company active in its community than with one that was not.
• 62 percent rated a company’s charity involvement as an important factor in choosing where to make a purchase.
• 78 percent of the interviewees trust a company that is active in the community.
• 81 percent claimed it made them feel more loyal.
• 83 percent say it’s something they talk about with their friends and family.
• 95 percent boasted that their bosses’ civic activities made them feel proud about working for the company.
At WWT, our giving has no strings attached, but the above survey illustrates that being a good corporate citizen generates strong employee and customer loyalty, and is good for the bottom line.
If profits are enhanced, that’s just a bonus.
We give because it’s the right thing to do.
Besides, giving is deeply ingrained in our culture.
Our giving spirit toward employees, customers, vendors, and partners extends to the entire community.
We apply the “Love one another as I have loved you” teaching of Jesus to our everyday activities—true giving has no boundaries.
Our community involvement sets a tone internally for the entire company.
We have no ulterior motives, and this, I believe, establishes a level of trust that permeates every aspect of our organization.
And when we give, we give with joy.
As 2 Corinthians 9:7 reminds us, God loves a cheerful giver.
While we give cheerfully, we do make decisions regarding what we support.
Like every responsible company, we have budgets.
For this reason, it isn’t possible for us to make contributions to every solicitation we receive, no matter how worthy the cause.
The United Way is the single biggest recipient of our company’s charitable contributions.
We give generously to the United Way because it supports over two hundred other agencies in the St. Louis area that, in turn, touch one out of three people in our community.
We encourage our employees to give to United Way but, of course, it’s voluntary.
Many have favorite charities of their own they support.
Still, an estimated 60 to 70 percent of our employees contribute to the annual United Way drive.
As a company, we focus our attention on supporting organizations that cater to needy families and children.
Why?
Because children represent the next generation, and we want these young people to have a sense of hope.
Two of these organizations are Toys for Tots and Ronald McDonald House.
We usually sponsor a golf tournament for the latter that raises about $100,000 a year.
To make fund-raising fun at WWT, we conduct many raffles throughout the year that include prizes donated by some of our vendors.
The company owns luxury suites for professional football, baseball, basketball, and hockey events.
These boxes have twelve to sixteen seats, and when you add up the total number of games in all seasons, they accommodate a lot of people throughout the year.
We use them to entertain our customers, vendors, and employees and we also donate use of the suites to be raffled off in various fund-raising events to generate revenue for worthy causes.
For instance, we recently auctioned the baseball suite for a night game, with proceeds going to The Girls, Inc.
Another time, it went to the highest bidder for a United Way fund-raiser.
When a customer or vendor cancels, making some extra seats in a box available, we give them to local groups that bring young boys and girls who may not otherwise have an opportunity to see a professional sports event.
We make sure a catering service keeps our suites well stocked with food and soft drinks for our guests.
We encourage our employees to support charitable and civic organizations, and whatever they give, the company matches with an equal amount to the same charity.
There is no limit to how much we match—dollar for dollar, we match 100 percent.
Employees appreciate the fact that WWT supports what
they support.
One of my favorite times is when schoolchildren visit our premises.
Groups of thirty-five to forty boys and girls come here throughout the year.
In addition to taking a tour of our operations, students attend a presentation on business career opportunities in America, and depending on the time of day, we provide lunch or snacks.
Some of these children from the inner city have had little contact with businesspeople, except perhaps the mom-and-pop stores in their neighborhood.
Here, they see something different, and hopefully they recognize it as a promising option.
During the presentation, I speak to them about my personal experiences, including growing up in the small town of Clinton, Missouri.
I’m candid with them about my struggles to maintain a C average in high school, and I stress the importance of getting a good education.
“I was only an average student.
You can do better than I did,” I say.
“Many people thought I’d never go to college, especially as a business major, and some felt that if I did, I’d never graduate.
But I did.
So remember that no matter what other people think, it’s
what you know you can do that counts.
And always remember that God is with you.”
The boys and girls who visit us range in age from eight years old to college students.
One day, a group of inner-city kids may visit, and the next, an Inroads group.
Inroads is a wonderful organization that helps college students who have maintained a good grade-point average.
It provides them with job opportunities during the summer months, in addition to training and developing them for their post-grad careers.
In December, we invite Toys for Tots to visit us.
This group provides toys to children of parents whose resources are low.
Two years ago, we hosted over a thousand kids throughout the Christmas holidays and had toys for every one of them.
On one of those days, Michael Jones, the St. Louis Rams player who made the game-saving tackle in the Super Bowl XXXIV game between the St. Louis Rams and Nashville Titans, visited the office.
Jones, who is an excellent speaker, joined me on the podium to talk to the kids.
The following Christmas, each of the buildings on our company campus competed to collect the most toys for Toys for Tots.
Our employees provided toys, plus they brought in toys solicited from their friends and neighbors as well as from our vendors and customers.
The toys were put on display in each building lobby, mostly gift-wrapped.
In total, we had several thousand toys to give away to the children who visited us during the holiday season.
Kurt Warner, the Rams star quarterback, his wife, Brenda, and two of their children stopped in for a few hours while a group of kids was here.
At the end of the day, the children stood in line to receive an autographed Bible from him.