A 2010 consumer report highlighted that $8 billion was lost in unredeemed gift cards. Over half of those consumers surveyed indicated that they did not have time to redeem their gift card. The next highest group said they forgot they had the gift card, followed by those whose gift card was lost or expired.
After hearing this story on national public radio, I rifled through my collection of gift cards hoping than none were expired. Whew! I was safe. At that precise moment of financial relief the metaphor hit me. What is the numeric value of unredeemed, forgotten, lost, and expired talents and gifts embodied in the men, women, and children in our communities?
One thing I know for sure is that a dream and a calling require an answer. Likewise, an unused, forgotten, lost or expired talent is as much a waste in our communities as is condemned tenement housing.
There is need for change at the very core of Cincinnati urban communities, a change in how we think and see the possibility of cultivating the untapped and extraordinary potential that lies in every man, woman, and child.
If consumer reports can quantify $8 billion in lost unredeemed gift cards, I am audacious enough to believe that there is $16 billion in lost, unredeemed talents and gifts across Cincinnati’s urban core.
In this unleashed potential, there are homeowners business owners; there are youth organizers and mentors, football coaches and Girl Scout leaders. There are students eager to learn, high school and college graduates, and quality child care in the form of seniors. There is employment and health. There are concerned, voting, and tax-paying citizens.
This quote by E.E. Cummings speaks to the opportunity we have in helping others to see their own value:“Many do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that something deep inside us is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, and sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.”
On February 17-19 at the Millennium Hotel in Cincinnati, CoreChange will engage citizens from every walk of life in the possibility of a future in Cincinnati’s urban core where talents and gifts are unleashed and potential is redeemed. Log on to http://www.corechangecincy.com/ to register for all three days. I’ll see you there!
