Wilks offers students a glimpse into philanthropy

Philanthropy is defined by the Encarta Dictionary as "a desire to improve the material, social and spiritual welfare of humanity, especially through charitable activities."

This is what Speech professor Bob Hopkins' life is all about.

Hopkins is the founder of Philanthropy World, a magazine that highlights people who do special things for other people. He started the magazine in 1995 and ran it for 11 years before retiring because of the economy.

"What I've done for the past 30 years is head up non-profit organizations, so I've only been teaching for three years," Hopkins said. "I actually retired and then came back here to teach, and I love it. But non-profit is my world."

Hopkins invited the president and founder of the non-profit organization called The Global Community for Education, Don Wilks, to come and speak to a few of his classes about philanthropy.

"It has been scientifically proven that when people help other people it makes them feel good about themselves," Hopkins said. "And when they feel good, they learn to talk better and be more confident. That then leads to better poise, posture and confidence."

Hopkins' students also helped organize the event.

"It was cool getting to introduce Mr. Wilks, but I was pretty nervous because it was my first time really getting up and speaking in front of people like that," said Business Major Juan Gonzalez. "It was a really good experience, though."

Students who came to the lecture received extra credit for attending and bringing  a dish for a Thanksgiving brunch. The menu included turkey, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie.

The students enjoyed more than just the food, however. They also heard Wilks speak about his GCE projects all over the world, particularly about his work in Nepal.

"It all started 13 years ago," he said. "I'm too young to be retired, but I like to say ‘I'm voluntarily unemployed.' I kind of had it with the corporate world, and I had a little bit of money saved, so my wife and I went on a 13-month trip in 2000 through Southeast Asia."

There they met a young man named Tanka who was their porter and also a university student. Wilks got to know Tanka very well and decided that he was too bright to carry around tourists' bags all day. So he paid for the remaining two years of Tanka's education.

A few years later, Tanka emailed Wilks and said he wanted to build a primary school in his village at an estimated cost of $12,000-16,000.

After raising the money and building the school, Tanka and Wilks went on to build a secondary school in his village. Plans to expand one of the school's campuses and turn it into a technical school.

"I'm hoping to develop out of these groups of kids people who will be givers," Hopkins said. "I'm trying to let them understand that when they are givers, they will feel better about who they are as a person."

While working with his non-profit organizations, Hopkins traveled to many places such as China, Thailand, India, Mexico, Costa Rica, Central America and Ireland. Hoping to add a new destination to the list, he chose Naples for his next trip in the upcoming year.

"I'm actually planning to go to Naples and see Wilks' schools," Hopkins said. "See what's going on up there and see how I fit in with the people."

Wilks concluded his visit with an encouraging word for his listeners.

"Don't wait for your government to change the world or a corporation to change the world," Wilks said. "It's small communities that really get things done."