We should be heartened by the knowledge that possessing a spirit of giving, having a personal commitment to helping those in need, and living a life of service to others are not Republican or Democratic values.

They are not limited to one religious faith. They are also not limited to people who live in this country. Helping others and having a generous spirit are human traits, and I know they will always endure.

Tip O’Neill once said, “All politics are local,” recognizing that issues impacting people must be addressed in communities and neighborhoods. Someone else has said, “All change is local,” which means to me that the way we improve the quality of life in our country and in the world is by taking care of the people in our own communities. When individuals organize in their communities to serve those in need in their own neighborhoods — that is how we make America great.

All of us live in a community of some sort. In our neighborhoods, each of us sees familiar faces — in the grocery store, in church, in synagogues, jogging on our street, picking up children at the local school. And it is in our local communities where most philanthropy must occur.

Let us look at the words in the title, "Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut." "Foundation" comes from the Latin "to lay a base."

If we think of a community as a house that supports and serves those who live within it, the individuals who offer their personal support are the first level. People who give of their time and money are the bedrock of every philanthropic act we do collectively.

Second are the organizations that provide direct services to people in need. We all know what has happened to our state budget in the past decade, and we can only imagine what is going to happen to federally supported services in the next few years. The nonprofit sector may never have been more important to the health and vitality of our communities.

The mortar that holds our foundation of support together is the private philanthropic leadership in our communities, in the case of this part of our state, the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut.

For 33 years now, this foundation and its predecessors have served as a bridge between the generosity of local donors and the needs of eastern Connecticut.

Protecting basic rights, serving the health and wellness needs of local residents, offering educational and economic opportunities, and protecting the environment are values that inform its work. Last year it received $10 million in gifts, and handed out $5 million to 200 nonprofits, as well as more than $500,000 in scholarships to more than 200 college students. That's 25 percent more than the prior year.

Its work to empower youth by supporting preschool education, teenage girls, and other youth marks a commitment to future generations. The foundation recognizes in its programs that we cannot feed the mind before we feed the body. Its commitment to preserving the environment reminds us all that we must take care of the paradise we have been given.

We are a generous nation because of the enduring values on which this country was built. The United States remains the world’s strongest and greatest democracy because of our commitment to basic human rights and political, economic and social freedoms. We are a country that has always embraced opportunity — for all of us. Only by uplifting those of us less fortunate can all of us be free.

In a democracy, service to others is an essential citizenship skill and duty. Fulfilling that duty may become more difficult in the short term. People — individually and collectively — may have to raise up their voices to advocate for what we believe in. It may mean speaking out against efforts to divide us.

It may mean working harder to protect the rights and serve the needs of those less fortunate than us. It surely means we can never compromise the principles that ground our lives and the nation we hold so dear.

Here in Connecticut, we must continue to value feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, protecting the vulnerable, healing the sick, and educating young people. If public funds are stretched, the safety net that our nonprofit community has helped create will become even more critical.

As we face this challenge together, we must lean on the values that form our very being. Nothing is more human than the spirit of helping others. We can find strength in each other. And finally, we can find inspiration and strength from the people we serve. Each of them has a face, and they shine brightly back at us whenever we look.

Elsa M. Núñez is the president of Eastern Connecticut State University. This commentary is excerpted from her keynote address to the annual meeting of the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut.