The Give Blog

Social Business: Helping Other People Through Business

 The Age--Nobel Winner Wants Business to Cut Poverty  BY Daniel Flitton 

HAVING received the 2006 Nobel peace prize for doling out millions of dollars in tiny loans to the poor, Muhammad Yunus is promoting another big idea - and again, strangely for a banker, the word ''profit'' is not the main feature. Micro-finance lender Grameen Bank - set up by Professor Yunus to provide small, short-term loans of a couple of hundred dollars, mostly to women to start small businesses - has partnered French multinational dairy company Danone to produce cheap yoghurt in Bangladesh. Children benefit from ready access to the product and the nutrition it brings, with the profit used to expand the market. It is an example of Professor Yunus' push for the corporate sector to establish what he calls ''social business''. . . . ''Why don't we create a business on the basis of our selflessness, where we run business not for making benefit only for ourselves but exclusively for helping other people?'' Read the entire story.

 

The Olympics and Giving

The Seattle Times—Olympic Athletes and Sponsors Get Behind Philanthropy By Kristi Heim

U.S. Olympic curler Nicole Joraanstad presented a $10,000 check to the Kent School District today, as one of five athletes supporting their hometowns through a partnership with Crest. . . . It's one example of philanthropy happening at the Olympics, as athletes use their voices and resources to support various causes of their own and to help fellow athletes. The gold medal for giving probably would go to snowboarder Hannah Teter, who is giving all of her prize and sponsorship money to charity, supporting work in Haiti, Kenya and Darfur. Read the entire story.

   

On the Ground: Crisis Nursery

When families are in crisis, kids are in crisis.  Today we feature Crisis Nursery, an organization that provides 24-hour, 365-days a year child abuse prevention and family support in the Champaign, Illinois area. We recently had the opportunity to visit the Nursery and see the wonderful work that the Nursery does, providing care to children of families in need with no fees, income eligibility, or waiting list.  Here's a story from Crisis Nursery.

A Crisis Nursery Family’s Story    

Abandoned by her husband and then laid off from her job as a retail clerk, Mrs. F. and her boys were forced to go on public assistance. Stressed already, the situation escalated when 2 year old Alex got hurt and was put in a body cast.  Mrs. F. was also dealing with David, age 7, and his on-going special needs: attention and learning difficulties, depression, and uncontrollable aggressive behavior---even toward his little brother. Alex was clingy, frustrated by his new immobility and scared of his big brother.  Intelligent and persistent, Mrs. F. sought resources to help David learn to socialize with other children and to give her some respite.  Mrs. F. would find a resource, only for David to act up and get kicked out. Mrs. F. was at the end of her rope, ready to snap.  She knew she was close to hurting one of her sons. She called the Nursery. At first, the Nursery provided emergency child care for Alex to give a desperate mom a break. Then our family specialist reached out to Mrs. F., who had no car, to make weekly home visits. Mrs. F. got a much needed listening ear, a voice of hope.  In sessions, Mrs. F. learned parenting techniques for Alex. Diapers and clothing were also given to help with expenses. A critical need was met when the Nursery linked Mrs. F. with an agency that provided a mentor to work with David on his behavior and social skills. Alex’s care at the Nursery allowed Mrs. F. and David to attend special school activities together.  A generous local business donated school supplies and gifts for the boys’ birthdays and Christmas. After receiving these free services from Crisis Nursery for over seven months, Mrs. F. no longer fears that she’ll harm her children. She has new skills and resources for her family.  Now she has found full time employment! The road isn’t entirely smooth---with a new job that pays $10 per hour, her family is still close to the poverty level.  If the road becomes too rocky, Mrs. F. is confident that the Nursery is there to help again---24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Our Conscious Living: Visiting Chicago

We spent some time in Chicago recently.  Suja had a talk for work in a nearby city, and we stayed the night in Chicago on the way back to Champaign.  The hotel was paid for by the place where she did the talk but we were on our own otherwise.  For dinner that night, we picked a delicious vegetarian restaurant with a great atmosphere where you can buy several entries for under $10.  We were meeting some friends, and we had suggested the place to ensure the place we went would fit within our budget. We walked the 2 miles to the restaurant making us feel less guilty about the food we were about to eat and saving the money it would have cost for a cab or the subway.     

After the meal, I was in the mood for another drink.  Suja suggested that we buy drinks from the grocery store instead of the more expensive alternative of going to a bar. A bonus from going to the grocery store in a big city is that you experience the city in a different interesting way.  After buying a pack of Mike’s hard lemonade for $8 and some Garrett's popcorn for $6, we walked back to the hotel and watched a movie on cable in the room while partaking in our treats.  

In the morning, we ate breakfast provided by the hotel.  At the hotel, we made sure we told everyone we shared an elevator with to have a nice day, and that made some people smile.  We then headed out to walk around the city.  

A couple of months ago we had received some money from family members for Christmas presents that we decided that we would give away.  There is something very real about giving money to a person in need in person.  You have to face them and see a little glimpse of their life.  We went to the bank and asked them to turn the money into tens.  Upon the recommendation of the tellers at the bank whom we had asked where we could find people asking for money, we went over to Michigan Avenue.  It was a cold Chicago day when most people rather not be standing or sitting around.  We gave money to people in wheelchairs, people who were blind, and people with talents, like a puppet show.  We don’t know what each person did with the money, but they needed it more than we did.  

We didn’t buy but we looked at the Bentleys and Lamborghini’s on Rush Street.  We ate lunch at Cosi’s where we had accumulated enough past purchases for two free sandwiches with our Cosi's card.  I of course needed a coke so our total cost was $1.89 for lunch.  We headed to Champaign around 2, having had a good big city experience without breaking the bank.

 

Jet Li and the One Foundation

ShanghaiDaily.com – Film Hero is Reborn – Jet Li on a New Mission  By Wu Chen

LI Lianjie refuses to strike a kung fu pose for photographers. "I don't like violence at all," said the action movie star better known to English-speaking audiences as Jet Li. The devout Buddhist has had an epiphany -- film making is now just a hobby, and philanthropy is his career and life. The turning point was in 2004, when Li and his family, holidaying in the Maldives, were caught in the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami. "It's not like in the movies. The water just rose so fast. I picked up my four-year-old daughter Jane and the baby-sitter got Jada, and we ran to the hotel (from the beach). The water was up to my waist, and a second later, it was up to my chest." The experience made him realize the insignificance of his skills and achievements in the face of nature's power. "All the money and power in the world cannot save you from the waves. I had to do something," Li said. It was the culmination of seven years of studying Buddhist doctrine and traveling the world looking for a meaning to his life. After talking with his wife, former Hong Kong actress Nina Li Chi, he donated HK$500,000 (US$64,342) to tsunami-affected people in a charity show with celebrities in Hong Kong and put another HK$500,000 into setting up a charitable foundation. The One Foundation, formally established in 2007, is based on the notion that if each person donates at least 1 yuan (14 US cents) a month, the donations can be transformed into a much greater fund, Li said. "I want to spread the idea that not only millionaires, celebrities and leaders, but each individual shares the responsibility to help others. We just need to offer help within our abilities," he said. More than a million volunteers have since registered on the One Foundation Website, donating their money or time.  Read the entire story.

American Kids Going Hungry

Our local foodbank has a program by which kids whose families lack resources for sufficient food are discreetly sent home with food for the weekend.  Here's a story about how regular American kids are going hungry

Detroit Free Press---Hunger hides even in school cafeteria lines  By ONEITA JACKSON

Oneita the Nosey was standing in line at the cafeteria in my son's high school when I heard one student ask another for lunch money. I offered him money, but he declined; his friend paid for his food. "Why don't you have any food?" I asked discreetly. "Well, my parents are having a difficult time right now. It's kind of rough," he said quietly. That's when the uncomfortable truth hit me: Some students -- students I know -- aren't getting enough to eat. Oh, I've heard about the statistics: A Feeding America study says 37 million Americans needed food assistance last year. But it is one thing to see a number in the newspaper and another to see it standing next to you after you lecture to the journalism class at your son's school. This hunger stuff is real. Real close. Read the entire story.

 

 

Global Hunger Czar?

Global Hunger Fight Missing White House Coordinator  By William Lambers

General Dwight Eisenhower came home. It was April 20, 1946 and the General was returning to his birthplace in Denison, Texas to the cheers of thousands. But for Ike, this homecoming was more than a celebration. It was a chance to issue a warning. Even after the great victories of World War II, there would be no peace if Europe was left to starve. Chaos, disorder, and possibly another war would follow. Ike warned that food would make the difference between peace or future conflict. The New York Times reported that Ike even "chided" a soldier for throwing away a good piece of bread at the homecoming. Food should not be wasted when it held the key to peace. While we hope Ike was not too hard on the fellow soldier, we must listen to the Food for Peace message he delivered. For if we seek peace today in countries like Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq, Somalia, Ethiopia, and Sudan, it is food that will form the backbone of this effort. But the U.S. response to hunger needs a leader. The State Department and also the Roadmap to End Global Hunger legislation have called for a global hunger coordinator (czar or envoy) to work in the White House. Such an individual could keep global hunger at the top of the nation's foreign policy agenda. . . .  Read the entire story.

On the Ground: Streetvibes

When we're in a big city, Suj and I will sometimes make a point to give away a few dollars to people whom we see on the street asking for money. We know that there are differences in opinion on whether you should do this. We’re of the opinion that we can possibly help by giving a person money that he/she may use for food or other needed things. One of the people to whom I recently gave money was selling Streetvibes. I felt horrible for this guy who could not see standing on the street in the cold.  He motivated us to highlight Streetvibes, which is sold by homeless and formerly homeless people.  Read the description below from Streetvibes and think about purchasing a similar paper from your local street vendor the next time you have a chance.

Streetvibes vendors buy the paper for 25 cents per copy and sell it for a one-dollar donation. They keep the profit that they have earned. This program has helped hundreds of people find and maintain housing. Streetvibes targets homeless and formerly homeless individuals who require supplemental income to become vendors. Becoming a Streetvibes Vendor is a great way for homeless and other low-income people to get back on (or stay on) their feet. It's a hand up for people who are often in a place of getting only a hand out, or even no hand at all.  Read entire description of Streetvibes.

 

Our Conscious Living: The Ghosts of Valentine’s Past, Present and Future

I remember making a box for Valentine’s Day and preparing cards for all of the kids in my class in grade school.  Later in life Valentine’s Day was not as fun.  It was painful. On Valentine’s Day as a young adult, seeing others in love made that day more difficult for me when I was wishing for love myself.  Even when I dated someone I wanted something that advertisements or Hollywood indicated showed my boyfriend’s care for me.  I was always disappointed.  I didn’t get the flowers or the candy or the profession of love that I was primed to expect.   My best Valentine came from Scott.  The first Valentine’s Day we knew each other he made me a card that described different characteristics he loved about me.  It was simple, lovely and didn't cost a thing.  Oddly, we can’t remember what we did last year which I guess isn’t bad except for the memory loss issue.  This year, we decided to make Valentine’s Day about expressing our love for our family and friends by spending some time with them albeit by phone.  Valentine’s Day is an odd creation, similar to mother’s day, father’s day and like days but we think all of those days are opportunities to act on our love for others hopefully similar to how we do so everyday.

  

Giving Everything Away

Tycoon trades high life for bedsit  By HENRY SAMUEL

An Austrian tycoon is giving away every penny of his £3 million ($5.3 million) fortune, having realised that his riches made him unhappy. Karl Rabeder, 47, a businessman from Telfs, near Innsbruck, is selling his villa with lake, sauna and spectacular mountain views over the Alps, valued at £1.4 million. Also for sale is his old stone farmhouse in Provence, on the market for £613,000. Already gone is his collection of six gliders valued at £350,000. Mr Rabeder has also sold the interior furnishings and accessories business - from vases to artificial flowers - that made his fortune. ''My idea is to have nothing left. Absolutely nothing. Money is counter-productive - it prevents happiness.'' He will move out of his Alpine retreat into a small wooden hut in the mountains or a simple bedsit in Innsbruck, surviving on £800 a month while the proceeds go to a charity he set up in Latin America. He will draw no salary from it. . . . For many years, he said, he was not brave enough to give up his comforts. The tipping point came during a three-week holiday with his wife in Hawaii.  Read the entire story.