Philanthropy takes many forms on the Vineyard, from spontaneous fundraisers to help Islanders in crisis to sophisticated campaigns to address an endemic health or social issue. Motivations for giving are just as diverse, and it takes all kinds of efforts to bring results.

Everywhere we looked this week it seemed there was another example of philanthropy enriching our Island community. Graduating seniors were awarded more than one million dollars in scholarships, ensuring their ability to continue and broaden their education. An eight-year effort to provide Little League baseball with a permanent home will culminate this weekend when Penn Field in Oak Bluffs officially opens.

Two examples of altruism stand out, however, for the genuine humility of the benefactors.

Margaret Yates, who died in April at the age of 103, could easily have made her intentions known while she was still alive. Instead, her stunning gift of one million dollars to the Permanent Endowment Fund of Martha’s Vineyard was not revealed until this week.

The native Islander and longtime owner of the Yates family drugstore in Vineyard Haven directed that her bequest be used to help Island students interested in careers in health fields, including nursing and pharmacy.

Mrs. Yates, who herself had obtained a nursing degree in an era when few women pursued any kind of higher education, wanted to give back to the Island she loved. And she did it in a way that eliminated any opportunity to receive the gratitude she richly deserves.

Now the scene shifts to the tennis courts at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, where the girls’ tennis team has made school history through remarkable performance on the courts. Undefeated in regular season play, the team entered the state tournament last week and battled their way to the top, first winning the south section division title — and then making it to the final round of the state tournament.

Win or lose, the girls’ tennis achievements will go down in the record books. And much credit goes to one man. Nearly fifteen years ago, a longtime West Tisbury resident who loves the game of tennis anonymously founded the Youth Tennis Center, a program where Island children are offered top-flight tennis instruction at no cost. The forward-thinking program has been an unqualified success, and in recent years both the boys’ and girls’ high school tennis teams have begun to see the results with players whose skill and love of the game was first fostered at a young age at Vineyard Youth Tennis.

Gerald DeBlois, who could be found sitting in the stands at home games, has never wanted to take public credit for the program, but the Island is a small place and it eventually came out that he was the benefactor for youth tennis.

The Island owes a huge debt of thanks to the many people who give generously to make the Vineyard a better place. Those who do so with little or no fanfare give us something more: a welcome reprieve from cynicism and confirmation that giving in fact can be its own reward.