Most of us are willing to share when we have a little extra.

Few, though, are willing to give something that exists in finite supply, a precious commodity where theres never any extra like our time.

On Friday evening at the Historic Onesto Hotel and Event Center in downtown Canton, this newspaper honored eight individuals and a foundation for Moving Our Community Forward.

Recipients of the awards at our second annual recognition event have demonstrated that giving isnt limited to opening a checkbook and offering a cash donation to sustain the agencies and programs doing meaningful work in our community.

Not that such magnanimity isnt needed, appreciated and welcomed. Of course it is. And those honored Friday have shared financial blessings graciously, some with excess generosity.

More notable, though, is the time each of the individuals has given to our community. Time spent on others rather than on themselves. And while some of the eight might be able to tap into a larger checking account, none has any more minutes in his or her daily bank than the rest of us.

Its how we, and they, choose to use time and how and when we give it to others that stands above all else.

What would impress us more: a millionaire giving $1,000 to a soup kitchen to buy potatoes or a millionaire giving two hours of time peeling those potatoes for the soup kitchen?

Exactly.

Bob and Linda DeHoff and Bob Gessner werent among the six honorees selected to receive a Clayton G. Horn Award of Excellence because they individually or through their family foundations have spearheaded philanthropic efforts throughout Stark County with direct financial contributions. Rather, they were chosen because of the time they contribute to worthy causes and their desire to pass along to future generations a world made better.

Can anyone measure the depth to which Cyndi Morrow has affected kids lives in the nearly 30 years she has been directing Wishes Can Happen? Thirty years! Or how many children heading down a wrong path in life have found a positive redirection after meeting LaMar Sharpe and coming under the influence of his Be A Better Me Foundation? Each was named a Peoples Champion Award winner because they represent living embodiment of the award itself.

Add in the lifelong devotion to this community of Horn Award winners Barb Bennett, Lisa Warburton-Gregory and Kirk Schuring, along with the myriad ways Stark Community Foundation, under the leadership of CEO Mark Samolczyk, has worked with hundreds of donor partners to lift and support others, and its easy to see why we see this years class of honorees as exceedingly special.

In the 500 or so years since theologian Martin Luther said, Show me where a man spends his time and money, and I'll show you his god little has changed in human behavior.

Many people talk about helping others. Some people share their financial good fortune with others. Few people make time for others.

The willingness of Barb Bennett, Bob and Linda DeHoff, Bob Gessner, Lisa Warburton-Gregory, Kirk Schuring, Cyndi Morrow, LaMar Sharpe and the staff at Stark Community Foundation to devote their most precious resource for the good of others serves as a model and inspiration for all of us.

When you see one of them in our community, take a moment of your valuable time simply to say, Thank you.

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Editorial: Giving their precious time distinguishes gala honorees - The-review