My trip to Nepal has been planned since February, but I really didn’t start telling friends until August. It wasn’t that I was keeping it from people, but I knew I would need to elaborate.

When I was young, I remember my father being very generous, but he was very quiet about his giving. I knew about some of the kind things he would do for others, but it wasn’t until his funeral that I realized the scope of his generosity, and I may never know the true extent of it. At my dad’s funeral, a lot of people came up to me to tell me about how my father had helped them through difficult times in their life — with money, time, physical help, or emotional support. I have tried to emulate what my father taught. Give in private, no need to toot your own horn.

But things changed.

As I told my friends about my upcoming trip to Nepal, they would ask why, and there wasn’t an easy explanation without simply saying: “I’m going to visit a couple of kids I have been sponsoring in Nepal.” This would be followed by questions asking me about the program and what it entailed. I was met with accolades, and at first, this made me a little uncomfortable — then the magic started to happen. One of the friends I told, Eric Devlin a friend from Dallas, sent me a check for $500, told me he loved the idea and wanted to help. I told another friend and he pulled $500 cash from his wallet and told me to put this towards the program. I started to rethink my “Give, don’t tell” policy.

As my trip neared, I received more and more support from people around me. I really started to question whether I was doing the right thing by not publicly speaking about the program and what I was doing. If only a few of my friends knew about the Mitrata Nepal Foundation, and they reached in their pocket to help the kids, then perhaps I was doing a disservice by not speaking about it.

As I look back on what my dad was teaching me, I think his premise was sound, but I think it applied specifically to helping friends or family. I don’t speak about giving for accolades or for recognition but for the joy it brings me and help it brings to Mitrata.

I look at my life and all of the help I have received in business and in personal situations. I have had people loan me money when things were really tough for me, and with the help I received enabled me to keep my head above water during tough times, I was able to survive and thrive. I have been the recipient of a lot of opportunity that most people don’t receive. Without the help from my friends, I would not be where I am today.

The joy I receive from helping these kids in Nepal is it’s own reward, I feel very grateful for the opportunity to help. One dollar goes about ten times as far in Nepal. $1,200 can provide schooling for a child for a whole year. When I look at what it cost to put a kid through private school in the US, it simply doesn’t compare.

I learned about Mitrata Foundation from my cousin Steve Schirber; he told me he was going to Nepal and I asked him why, and he said he was attending the graduation of the girl he had been sponsoring in Nepal. When I started asking questions, he was so excited to talk about her — he was like a proud parent, and the joy in his voice was palpable. I was intrigued. He said to me, “It is so cheap; you get so much for value for your donation.” At the time it was $500.00 a year to put a kid through school, to make an impact and change the world. Inflation has struck Nepal, and the earthquake in 2015 was devastating. The cost to put a kid through school has grown to $1,200 a year, but still, for $100.00 a month or one Starbucks a day, you can put a kid through school. Oh, and the kid Steve sponsored is graduating with a nursing degree next year where she is helping others on a daily basis and really paying it forward.

I have wanted to come to Nepal for the last couple of years, I wanted to meet the kids and see for myself where the money was being spent. I wanted to see if it was being spent wisely or if it was being wasted on needless things. I have been so pleased with how the program works; we waste a lot in the US, it comes with success, but it is so refreshing to see things done so efficiently. This trip is life-changing for me.