For me the end of the year is a time of assessment. What were the RFC's major achievements and challenges in 2010? 2009 was very difficult and 2010 wasn’t much easier, although by early this year we’d gotten used to rough times. We knew what we faced. Since we must raise the funds we give away, we knew we’d have to make an extraordinary effort even to match our 2009 level of awards, which was $50,000 lower than in 2008.

The NBC News coverage I saw the other day of the latest round of Wikileaks releases got me thinking. One of their regular correspondents stated that “most people disapprove of leaking this material,” but I hadn’t seen or heard of any opinion polls about this. It struck me that the correspondent was not reporting on what people actually thought, but rather was telling people what to think.

We’re taking a break the next few days at the RFC before plunging into the final frenzy of getting our year-end letters out. However you celebrate this week, I wish you a warm and peaceful time. I’ll resume my regular blog posting next week.

Last weekend Elli and I went to see After the Revolution in New York City. Many people think this play, which has gotten rave reviews, is based in part on my parents’ circumstances, but it isn’t. Instead, it is a slightly fictionalized account of another family, the Josephs, whose experience has some parallels to that of my parents.

At yesterday’s staff meeting, Amber, Jenn and I discussed our plans for the final set of receptions next spring to wrap up our 20/20/20 program. You may recall that we decided to mark our 20th anniversary by staging 20 events, over 20 months, in 20 cities. The first event took place in Albany, NY in September 2009, and we expect the last one to be held in May 2011.