Ten years. A decade. A major milestone any way you cut it — or count it, using all your fingers or toes.

This month marks ten years for me at The Munshine Group, making it a time of reflection on the work we do, the people we do it with and, crucially, the people we do it for.

Most of my career was spent in newsrooms where we often dealt with some of the worst of life and human nature, sometimes on a global scale. War and terror attacks. Death and disaster. Crime and cruelty. Sure, there would be the feel-good “kicker” story, but much of the content was, simply put, literally bad news. Of course, the fact that this was what was deserving of air time meant that by its nature it was, on the whole, an aberration. The old “man bites dog” trope. But there’s a reason news people have a reputation for a certain kind of cynicism born of witnessing and sharing so much that is difficult and disheartening.

My pre-Munshine shift from storytelling in newsrooms to the nonprofit world, working in the fight against hunger and poverty close to home, opened my eyes and my heart in a new way, flipping the script. Instead of the good news being an afterthought at the end of a half-hour of grinding headlines and grueling updates, it became central to everything. It’s hard to stay jaded when generosity and the best of humanity are center stage and not an afterthought.

Then came the past decade in my current role, where lesson after lesson about the impact of people helping others unfolded. From rolling up your sleeves, boots on the ground help to the financial support that makes it all possible, inspiration was everywhere.

Fred Rogers famously said to “look for the helpers.” Beyond those well-known four words is the full quote, with wisdom perhaps meant for children, but important for us all:

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers–so many caring people in this world.”

Amen, Mr. Rogers. These past ten years have shown me the wisdom, and the truth behind those comforting words about those who care. I’ve seen the helpers in the teachers, the healers, the leaders, the advocates and activists, the nourishers and caretakers, the shelterers, and the stewards of the environment. Supporters of the mind, body and spirit, and of their neighbors and neighborhoods, whether in the local or global sense.

This past decade certainly produced its share of challenges, with the pandemic topping that list. But those helpers in the nonprofit world rose to the unprecedented challenge in that time of disaster, pivoting and prioritizing where needed, and carrying out their missions with selflessness and determination. It is always an honor to support the organizations we partner with, and never more so than during that time.

Who knows what ten years from now will bring? In 2016, I could hardly have predicted how richly rewarding this decade would be, how much I would learn, or how a third career chapter would, in many ways, be the best. Philanthropy. Literally translating to “love of humanity.” What could be better?

I’ll close with someone else’s words. In her 1902 poem “Vesalius in Zante,” Edith Wharton wrote:

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.

For the past ten years, The Munshine Group and those we’ve worked with have given me the treasured opportunity to do both, and I am so very grateful.