Rocco Basile: Spending Time with Children of the City

I went to Xaverian High School, which offers the very best in secondary education throughout New York State. The school primarily serves young men from disadvantaged backgrounds, and boys with learning disabilities. Approximately 10 percent of the Xaverian enrollment includes students with learning difficulties.

I spend my charitable time working on organizing The Joe DiMaggio Award Gala, the annual fundraiser for Xaverian High School. Proceeds of this event are shared for the greater good of the community. The school is rooted in Brooklyn, NY, and Xaverian primarily has a strong Italian-American swing.

I am also on the Board of Directors of Children of the City, where I recently helped with a food drive over Thanksgiving. Since 1981, Children of the City has been serving the underprivileged children in the inner-city communities of Southwest Brooklyn. Our team includes many certified professionals, along with 50 highly committed and trained volunteers who visit about one thousand children each month. During the year we maintain current information on over 500 families in the community, giving them encouragement and resources, and hoping to give them a better tomorrow.

Aside from working with my family, The Basile Builders, I have been spending more and more time with my charities in recent years. Why? Because I read a passage from Steven Covey's book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey asks you to begin with the end in mind and suggest that you imagine a funeral. Then as you approach the coffin, you realize that it’s your own funeral. Your friends and family will be giving eulogies. What will they say? Did you live a life that you could be proud of? What kind of father and friend were you?

The book also speaks of an emotional bank account and how when you do good things for others you are making deposits in the emotional bank accounts of others. As these deposits grow, your relationships grow. There may be times that you make a withdrawal, like a broken promise or a hurtful statement, but if your emotional bank account is full from past deposits, you will be forgiven. This concept has helped me repair my personal relationships and has changed the way I treat others. I firmly believes that educating our youth and serving as a role model gives them an understanding of this principal.