So many major successful fund-raising activities have taken place this year in the CSRA that, when added together, the results can best be described as amazing.

When the year started, there were a number of major capital campaigns under way -- but progress was slow, and the deepening national recession made completion seem very doubtful.

But let's fast-forward 10 months.

WITH TWO MONTHS left in 2009, the Fisher House next to the uptown VA hospital has received such great financial support that construction will commence in December; the Kroc Center is close to funding completion; the Boy Scout Fleur de Lis dinner on Nov. 13 is sold out; the new soup kitchen on Fenwick Street has been so well-supported financially that construction of this large facility already is under way; the Jimmie Dyess Days were fully funded and provided thousands of Scouts an extraordinary experience; and funding for the Heritage Academy has been very robust. The list just goes on and on.

What is truly remarkable is that the vast majority of these facilities and events have been funded not by the federal, state or local governments, but by the munificence of the citizens of the CSRA, as well as some others from outside our area.

A new book -- Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives, by Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler -- may help explain this impressive outpouring of generosity. These authors demonstrate through many vivid examples how connectivity can help reinforce tendencies among friends and contacts.

For instance, if your college roommate is studious, you are likely to become more studious. However, if your roommate is lazy or distracted, you might tend to goof off. Another example is nonsmokers who tend to hang out with other nonsmokers. This reinforces everyone's commitment to refrain from lighting up.

Another example of how far your influence can reach is "the wave" at a football game. When you and some of your friends start a wave, tens of thousands of people, without any direction from you or a cheerleader and without coordination with those who are on the other side of the field, make the wave circle the field.

If you associate closely with generous people, you will tend not only to become more generous yourself, but you will also encourage others to be more generous. This is true even if you are not in direct contact with them. This is a very important point. You can and do influence people that you have never met. This snowball effect (sometimes called the contagion effect) is clearly at work in the CSRA. There is no reason why this virtuous phenomenon can't continue to bloom in the months and years ahead.

THESE RESULTS SAY something important and uplifting about how much people throughout the CSRA care for their community.

All of these good outcomes provide the kind of domino effect that can lead to even more impressive results. For those of you who have yet to climb on the generosity bandwagon, it is not too late to pull out your checkbook and make contributions to good causes in the local area. Let me make two suggestions:

- Although the Kroc Center Campaign is 90 percent complete, it still needs additional funding support. With the Kroc Trust giving us more than $4 for every dollar we raise, this is a great deal for our region. Send your check soon made out to the Salvation Army Kroc Campaign and send it to Kroc Campaign Headquarters, P.O. Box 921, Augusta, GA 30903-0921.

- The Christ Community Health Center. Two altruistic and deeply spiritual doctors, Drs. Robert Campbell and Grant Scarborough, have chosen to give up a large income to serve the less fortunate among us. They have managed to get many medical students involved. Hence, they have become role models for those future doctors who will be inspired to follow their lead as spirit filled medical professionals.

If they can raise an additional $1.2 million they can move into the historic Widow's Home on lower Broad Street and vastly increase their health ministry. Send your check to Christ Community Health Services at 1226 D'Antignac St., Augusta, GA 30901.

RECENTLY, I GAVE a talk to the Augusta-Richmond County Historical Society on "Leadership in Augusta -- Past, Present and Future." I made the point that there is a model in Augusta's past that we can build on. After the great fire of 1916, Augustans pulled together to rebuild the city. They did not rely on government agencies but reached deep into their pockets to fund the projects that rebuilt the downtown area.

Today, with governments unable or unwilling to help us very much, we will have to rely on ourselves to take Augusta into a brighter future.