in a word: gratitude.

From the podium at the 50th Anniversary Gratitude Gala, Michelle Zyp described her parents, the founders of Change for Children, as having dropped a stone into a pond with no idea that half century later, the ripples would still be reaching outward.

“They were boulders,” Michelle shared. Tough shoes to fill.

“I am a pebble person,” she followed. “But the size of the stone doesn’t matter. What matters is that you throw it.”

Throughout the night, our speakers walked us through that history. Not so much a timeline of milestones and projects, but through stories of people and their pebbles. A volunteer discovering that she had as much to learn as she had to give. A teacher turning a classroom fundraiser into a lesson about the wider world. A longtime supporter finding family and purpose here.

Different decades. Different roles. Different pebbles.

And looking around the room, it was impossible not to think about how many more there have been. Every story would have been different. But running through each of them, in one way or another, would have been the thread of community. We hope that in the stories shared, everyone recognized a little of their own.

To everyone who joined us, and to everyone who has been part of this story over the past 50 years: thank you for your generosity, your trust, your time.

Together, the evening raised more than $170,000 in support of Change for Children’s work, with generous contributions from those who joined us in the room and those who celebrated with us from afar. We are wildly grateful for that generosity and for what it will make possible.

By the time our 50th Anniversary photo and video retrospective played at the end of the night, Natalie Merchant’s Kind and Generous felt like a summation, a reminder of just how much we have been given, how many people have contributed, and how profoundly fortunate we are to have travelled this road together.

I could not have been more proud to be a pebble person. And I could not be more grateful for every person who has added their own.