Alma Dakota Hunt (1891 – 1987) was a devout lady who lived a modest life dedicated to helping people. Often called a “good listener,” the life lessons she offered on goal setting and perseverance were not so much taught by her words as through her deeds. She had many admirers and mentees. One, a grandchild for whom she held a particular fondness, eventually became her caregiver and then executor of her $500 estate.
In the beginning, as manager of her financial affairs, her grandchild was often perplexed by his grandmother’s budgetary discipline. It was extremely important to her that she first allocate a fixed portion of her monthly income to benefit those whom she felt were making a sincere effort to improve their lives. From the balance, she compulsively saved a portion and was content to live on what remained.
Looking around at her possessions, her grandchild felt she had little. But, he knew, from her perspective, she was enjoying an abundant life.
She was doing amazing things with a personal income of $396 a month.
Sharing was an expression of her gratitude, as she often said, “for having all my needs supplied.” She felt it her duty to help enrich the world with her good (though modest) fortune and used it to attack social disparities, often caused by inadequate opportunities for people to enjoy a better life. Just as she was enthralled by those who strived to become self-sufficient, she admired those caring (often self-sacrificing) people committed to nurturing improvement in the lives of others.
Though she herself had emerged from lowly beginnings—having toiled for a part of her life in domestic service, “Nana” (as she was widely known) was often consulted by those social programs in which she’d shown interest. She was a no-nonsense lady who had a keen sense of accountability and expected measurable results. Interested in progressive institutions with broad social interests and innovative leadership that could identify and address the needs of at-risk young people living in underserved communities and that could achieve tangible results within a defined time frame, she enjoyed seeing good stewardship at work. And she was passionate about supporting a select group of diverse grassroots projects that provided humanitarian assistance to disadvantaged children worldwide.
Because of her concerted efforts to avoid recognition for her benevolence, many who knew her quite well, including her grandchild, realized only after her death how altruistic she had been.
Her grandchild was so inspired by this revelation that he wanted to continue her legacy, also anonymously. If she could do all she did with what was given her each month, let me see what I can do with what she gave me, he thought. It was his hope to eventually turn his grandmother’s $500 into $100,000 and from that to distribute earnings to philanthropic programs in her memory. He never envisioned an endowment currently valued at over $1.5 million nor did he imagine that it would have distributed, to date, over $800,000 in gifts, grants, and awards.
The name posthumously given to this charitable program was VCM (Vision Capital Management), so named because of Alma’s “future perfect” outlook on life. That name would have been just fine with her; however, after years of requests from people who had benefited from her kindness, Alma Dakota Hunt’s name was added to her giving programs.
