Cindy Floyd; “Peace is living in harmony and supporting the people in your community.”
A champion for local fundraisers and philanthropy, Cindy Floyd, has always been involved in supporting people in her community, and has recently been selected to receive the 2023 YMCA Peace Medal.
For Cindy, peace and philanthropy go hand in hand. When asked how she personally defines peace, she said, “I think peace is living in harmony and supporting the people in your community. I would say an act of kindness is an act of peace.”
Cindy further discusses how for her philanthropy is really about doing something good that creates lasting positive impact for your local community. It can look like donating money or goods, or becoming more directly involved as a volunteer.
“Cindy’s approach to philanthropy, whether at work or as a volunteer, is one that involves everyone and values all,” said Kelly Evans, President & CEO of the Greater Saint John Community Foundation.
Currently working as the Program Manager, Fund Development with the Greater Saint John Community Foundation, Cindy is no stranger to the philanthropy community in Saint John, as she has many years of fundraising experience with local charities including the Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation and our very own YMCA of Greater Saint John. When asked to share of a memorable experience illustrating the impact she has made in the community, she refers back to her time at the YMCA as being one of the highlights of her philanthropic career.
“When I think of the life and the work I did at the Y, it was the opportunity to introduce more people to the Y movement through the Strong Communities Campaign. Making the Y accessible to all, was very meaningful to me.”
Cindy approaches philanthropy as something everyone in the community can get involved with regardless of a person’s economic status. A champion for local fundraisers and volunteers, she helps connect resources to people, ensuring they have everything to implement the goals and vision to help bring a positive impact to their communities.
Kelly Evans continued to speak of Cindy’s efforts in supporting others, “Cindy spends many hours volunteering her talents as a mentor…Many groups come together with a vision to give back and have no idea where to begin when it comes to raising the much-needed funds to make their philanthropic dream a reality.”
Cindy has helped mentor and influence many in the community to start their own philanthropic endeavors. So, who has been a role model or mentor for Cindy?
She credits working with Shilo Boucher during her time with the YMCA of Greater Saint John has having a significant influence on her work in philanthropy.
“she’s the one that got me started in Philanthropy and I guess she very much believed in me and supported the work I did,” said Cindy.
She also credits another leader she now works with at the Greater Saint John Community Foundation, Kelly Evans, as someone she learns from every day as well as the many volunteers she’s worked with. She finds it very meaningful how they do their [volunteer] work out of the goodness of their hearts.
When looking at peace on a more global landscape and how things could be addressed, Cindy feels that it can get a bit overwhelming to think about being just one person, but believes that it all starts with the work we can do in our own communities.
“Starting with our own community and building from that is the only way we can do it,” said Cindy
How does one do that? For Cindy, it is connecting and getting involved with what you are passionate about as that will be the driving force to continue to do the good work.
Cindy continues by saying, “you’re going to believe in it and its going to be advantageous for the people [you are impacting] and advantageous for you.”
Cindy Floyd will be honored as the 2023 YMCA Peace Medal Recipient along with Song Kim at the YMCA Peace Week Breakfast being held on Wednesday, November 15th at the Delta Hotel at 7:30am.
Tickets can be purchased on Eventbrite or for more information visit YMCA Peace Week.