universal positive » Philanthropy

Forces for Good: Martin Luther King, Jr. (and you!)

Roger Darnell — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 01:00:24 +0000

Where I live, each year on Martin Luther King Day, groups of college students pay calls on local businesses. By the day’s end, they’ve tackled the hard work, raised funds, and/or made important impacts in countless, priceless ways. For anyone looking to connect with projects for MLK Day, nowadays there are many resources, including MLKDay.gov. Even in his absence, the one-of-a-kind visionary and leader Martin Luther King Jr. continues to set himself apart.

We are immensely grateful for the service of Mr. King, his father and mother Martin and Alberta, everyone in his family, and everyone giving what they have to keep his dream alive.

Giving season: Heroes

Roger Darnell — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 11:00:54 +0000

Together with my family, I am sending my warmest thoughts to many friends and colleagues worldwide, and feeling a lot of gratitude. I truly appreciate your help in sending daily clicks to www.hungersite.com, where our simple mouseclicks can benefit a number of vital causes each and every day.

I’m also especially thankful to Tommy Ewasko and the individuals behind my client companies ATTIK, Brand New School, King and Country, Leviathan, Shilo and Thornberg & Forester for their leadership and help in supporting the following heroic organizations.

. The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation (www.ChristopherReeve.org) is dedicated to curing spinal cord injury – and improving the quality of the lives of people living with paralysis.

. Amazing Grace Children’s Foundation (www.AmazingGraceCF.org) is a 501c3 non-profit organization based in Glendale, California, dedicated to helping children who are critically or terminally ill.

. The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (www.pedaids.org) is currently waging an aggressive campaign to accelerate the response of the United States to children living with AIDS around the world.

. With their mission of ending hunger and poverty, and caring for the earth, over the past 60 years, Heifer International (www.heifer.org) has transformed the lives of millions of families by providing gifts of cows, goats and other livestock. Along with the animals, families receive extensive training in animal care and learn environmentally friendly agricultural practices. Each gift of livestock starts a chain reaction of self-reliance that spreads throughout the communities, as each family who receives an animal agrees to “pass on the gift” by sharing their animal’s offspring with others in need.

. The Hole in the Wall Gang Fund (www.holeinthewallgang.org) was established by Paul Newman in 1988 as a nonprofit residential summer camp and year-round center designed to serve children and families coping with cancer and other serious illnesses and conditions. Each summer, more than 1,000 children between the ages of 7 and 15 from the U.S. and abroad attend The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp free of charge. Programs are also offered in the off-season for campers, their families, and healthcare professionals… and in support of associated camps throughout the world.

. The Lance Armstrong Foundation (www.LiveStrong.org) unites people to fight cancer, providing the resources survivors need to live life on their own terms.

. The National Children’s Cancer Society (www.theNCCS.org) is dedicated to improving the quality of life for children with cancer and their families worldwide.

. The V Foundation (www.JimmyV.org) is dedicated to saving lives by helping to find a cure for cancer.

Giving season: Love

Roger Darnell — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:00:20 +0000

In the video above, in his own words, Narayanan Krishnan says, “I thought, what is the purpose of my life? What am I going to do? …And I quit my job and I started feeding all these people from 2002.” And later: “There are thousand and thousands and lots and lots of people suffering. What is the ultimate purpose of life? It’s to give. Start giving. See the joy of giving.“

I have done some research on homelessness over the years, and we all know that there are displaced people living on the city streets everywhere in America. The organizations and initiatives highlighted below represent just some of the many phenomenal community efforts supporting homeless people in the U.S. and elsewhere. I found many of them through JustGive.org, and I’m also proud to point you to this list JustGive publishes, entitled 35 Ways You Can Help the Homeless. They list as item 7, “give money,” and to that, I’ll add my plea to give whatever you have to spare (from loose change to your time), to those people you see in need.

Also, it’s the time of year when I invite you to join me in sending daily clicks to www.hungersite.com, where our simple mouseclicks can benefit a number of vital causes each and every day.

Thank you!

. World Hunger Year (www.worldhungeryear.org) is a non-profit that fosters numerous programs and activities to effectively advance long-term solutions to hunger and poverty by supporting community-based organizations that empower individuals and build self-reliance.

. The mission of the National Coalition for the Homeless (www.nationalhomeless.org) is to end homelessness in the United States. Among many other noteworthy initiatives over the past several years, NCH launched the Bringing America Home Act, taking to Congress the belief that people need affordable housing, livable incomes, health care, protection of civil rights and access to education.

. In New York City, the Partnership for the Homeless (www.partnershipforthehomeless.org), which began in 1982 with a single emergency shelter for men in the basement of a Greenwich Village church, has developed numerous programs to meet the changing needs of homeless people who live on the streets or in the city’s public spaces and shelters, families with children, the frail and elderly, those living with HIV/AIDS, veterans, victims of domestic violence, older unemployed workers, and unskilled workers who cannot afford housing outside the city’s shelter system. The Partnership strives to provide decent and affordable housing, community-based social services, stabilizing aftercare, and effective job training that translates into self-sufficiency and independence.

. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Coalition (www.lahsc.org) and the San Francisco Homeless Services Coalition (www.sfhsc.org) have raised millions of dollars to support shelters across California, specifically benefiting homeless women, children, and families. Along with linking residents and their resources with area shelters needing donations, these groups also educate their communities about the causes of homelessness to raise awareness and understanding, and to enlist them in aiding homeless individuals in need.

Let’s change the world today…

Roger Darnell — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:01:00 +0000

Today is World AIDS Day… and as made clear in these words from Nobel Peace Prize winner and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, today’s mission demands that each of us take part:

“Accountability requires every President and Prime Minister, every parliamentarian and politician, to decide and declare that ‘AIDS stops with me’… But accountability applies not only to those who hold positions of power. It also applies to all of us… And it requires every one of us help bring AIDS out of the shadows, and spread the message that silence is death.”

I expect you already know about (RED) — the innovative, private-sector initiative launched in January of 2006 to enlist leading companies to channel a percentage of profits to assist in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which kills three million people every year. The money generated by the sale of (RED) products supports Global Fund-financed programs which positively impact the lives of women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa. The Global Fund is a unique global public-private partnership dedicated to attracting and disbursing additional resources to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. This partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities represents a new approach to international health financing. The Fund works in close collaboration with other bilateral and multilateral organizations to supplement existing efforts dealing with the three diseases. Programs supported by (RED) and the Global Fund have reached over 5 million people to date. Around half of the funding is being spent on medicines, mosquito nets to prevent malaria and other products, while the other half is for strengthening health services.

For more information on the work of the Global Fund or to make a tax-deductible contribution, please visit www.theglobalfund.org.

Please visit (RED) to read about partners and take advantage of their offers, to learn more about the organization, Global Fund and World AIDS Day, and to learn more about what you can do to make an impact today and tomorrow.

Today, please take at least one action to help turn the tide for those suffering from AIDS in Africa. We can make a difference!

eBay’s give-a-toy stores

Roger Darnell — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:30:45 +0000

Starting last Friday and for the next month, shoppers in New York City and San Francisco can use their mobile phones to purchase toys for children in need at two new interactive storefronts presented by eBay and Toys for Tots. The initiative conceived and produced by advertising agency Venables Bell & Partners features interactive displays created by international production company and design studio Brand New School (BNS) and its School of Interactive Media.

As reported by TheInspirationRoom.com, all web-connected shoppers can experience the Give-A-Toy Store and make donations online by visiting www.eBay.com/GiveAToyStore and www.Facebook.com/eBay.

Thoughts for food

Roger Darnell — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 17:44:18 +0000

Blog Action Day occurs every October, uniting the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day to spark global discussions and drive collective actions. For 2011 it coincides with World Food Day to focus on FOOD.

If you’re interested in ideas about eating locally, I’m with you. Courtesy of my friends at HighCountryLocalFirst.org, check out the top ten reasons to buy local food listed below.

I also invite you to join me in sending a “click” to www.hungersite.com, where simple mouseclicks benefit vital causes each and every day… and provide real food to the hungry.

The above video introduces a new TV show entitled Food Forward. You can visit Food Forward on Kickstarter.com to learn more about this bold initiative exploring alternatives to current industrial food systems. Those behind it include “food rebels who are fundamentally changing the way we eat…” a vanguard of innovators including educators, scientists, farmers and chefs across America.

Finally, if you haven’t already done so, strongly consider joining Jamie Oliver’s food revolution!

Why buy local food? Easy! Because it…
. tastes better.
. is better for you.
. preserves genetic diversity.
. is genetically modified food (GMO)-free if it’s local certified organic food
. supports local farm families.
. builds community.
. preserves open space.
. keeps your taxes in check.
. supports a clean environment and benefits wildlife.
. is about the future.

Adapted from Growing For Market, the national monthly journal for direct market farmers. Growing for Market is America’s most respected source of information about growing and selling vegetables, fruits, herbs, flowers, and plants.

Good works from Thornberg & Forester

Roger Darnell — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 18:02:53 +0000

Ever since DreamWorks Animation and Conservation International commissioned the principals of award-winning design and production company Thornberg & Forester (T&F) to create a special feature PSA for the DVD release of Kung Fu Panda back in 2008, the NYC-based group has kept on applying its diverse talents to the needs of worthwhile nonprofit and non-governmental organizations and environmental causes. Videos from those projects now appear on T&F’s Good Works channel on Vimeo, and more project information is available at www.thornbergandforester.com.

Killer reels: Thornberg & Forester

Roger Darnell — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 13:00:36 +0000

The principals of award-winning design and production company Thornberg & Forester (T&F, www.thornbergandforester.com) recently announced that many of their 2010 collaborations with leading business luminaries received top honors at the annual PromaxBDA Conference in New York City. A playlist featuring all the award-winners is here.

Among its four 2011 North America Design Award winners is T&F’s own “Brand Video” which scored Gold in the Self Promotion category. Other Golds were presented for its collaboration with advertising agency BBDO for GE’s Advanced Imaging sponsorship of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics in the Long Form category, and the firm’s 2010 GEL Conference graphics package, which won for Best Collaborative Effort. T&F’s original Green is Universal campaign for NBC won Bronze in the category for Art Direction and Design, Network/Channel Image Campaigns. Congratulations everyone!

Jessye Norman On Summer’s Edge

Roger Darnell — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 22:51:32 +0000

On the evening of 20 June in New York City, world renowned opera artist Jessye Norman will present On Summer’s Edge, an evening of music and celebration benefiting The Campaign for the Family Resource Center of The Partnership for the Homeless. Beginning at 6:30PM at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Ms. Norman and Sade Baderinwa will co-host performances from Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble and Mingus Dynasty.

Buy Tickets
Partnership for the Homeless Website
About the Campaign for The Family Resource Center
Donate

Each day, more than 100 families appear at NYC shelters asking for emergency assistance, but according to Arnold S. Cohen, President and CEO of the Partnership for the Homeless, shelters represent one of the most expensive means of supporting people in a housing crisis. As he reports, New York City has devoted virtually no real resources to helping families deal with the challenges they face so that they can stay in their homes. Meanwhile, Mr. Cohen and his colleagues work one-on-one with families on the challenges pushing them towards homelessness, and their Campaign for the Family Resource Center needs our help. Please consider making a gift donation today by visiting their website and their Facebook page. Thank you!

Forces for good: TONIC and YOU

Roger Darnell — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 15:47:27 +0000

TONIC is a platform for brands (consumers, celebrities and causes) to educate, interact and engage consumers around positive actions. Started as a destination for good news content, TONIC now generates its own news via the worlds of Silicon Valley, Madison Avenue, Philanthropy and Hollywood. This week they shared 10 thoughtful tips on ways to do good and be awesome this summer. As their social media marketing manager Alethia Austin writes, “Here at Tonic, we believe the things to do during summer that are the most fun are those that have a positive effect on you, the people around you and our beautiful planet. We’ve put together a few ideas for you to consider when you find yourself wondering what to do during these long, wonderful summer days.” I’ve summarized their suggestions below, but encourage you to check out the full article linked above for further ideas and inspiration. Thank you very much for your interest, and for doing your part to make our world better for us and generations to come.

1. Pick up trash.

2. Donate food to local shelters or directly to homeless individuals.

3. Provide direct support to a local teacher.

4. Plant a garden (Tonic tip: www.guerrillagardening.org)

5. Plan ahead, save water and use reusable containers.

6. Be proactive in helping animals (yours and others) stay hydrated.

7. Challenge yourself to not eat meat or fish for a week or longer.

8. Forgive others!

9. Give your time by volunteering (Tonic tip: www.volunteermatch.org)

10. Read books on philanthropy (Tonic tip: Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin).