Working to Give: Philanthropies & Philanthropic Work

Papa John’s International Inc. is showing its commitment to its customers and to its communities. In the communities where they operate, they will donate 500 custom-designed bike helmets to lower economic youths who participate in the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective program (SLCBC). This is in addition to the company’s sponsorship of the Tour of Utah, which is a week-long professional cycling race.

As the Founder, Chairman and CEO “Papa John” Schnatter said,

“Papa John’s is excited to partner with the Tour of Utah and Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective. Our love for pizza, cycling and our local community go hand-in-hand. This is a unique opportunity to help support the local economy and bring people together to enjoy the sport of cycling and the great outdoors. As an avid cyclist, I’m encouraged by the good work that the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective (SLCBC) is doing to encourage kids to stay active, while also teaching important life skills and rewarding hard work. At Papa John’s, we are proud to help ensure more kids are able to benefit from the SLCBC program.”

The helmets have a pizza-theme on them and they will be donated to members of the SLCBC.

As the Executive Director of the SLCBC, Davey Davis, said

“We at the SLCBC are very grateful to receive these helmets from the team at Papa John’s. Every kid should get the opportunity to ride a bike, and this donation supports us in helping more kids to ride safely and have fun while doing it.”

You may never have heard of Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), but it’s time that you have. It’s a painful and often fatal rare genetic disease that affects 1 out of every 20,000 births in the US. People born with EB are often called “Butterfly Children” because of their extremely fragile skin.

Next month, the 17th annual debra of America Benefit will take place from 6:30pm to 9:30pm on Monday, November 16th at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. The evening will include a performance by former American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer Julie Kent. It will also include a cocktail and hors d’oeuvre reception, a silent auction and a DJ set by platinum-selling singer Kate Nash.

All proceeds from the event will support people living with EB. Learn more and get involved.

The heated plan to auction off 24 Native American masks in Paris has come to a happy ending.  The Hopi tribe has been trying to take legal action to delay the sale of the masks, and their efforts were rejected in the courts. The tribe believes that the masks, which date from the late 19^th to early 20^th century, were taken illegally from a northern Arizona reservation in the early 20^th century.

And clearly they did not want them auctioned off. Now, some charitable foundation has come through at the last minute, as an anonymous bidder paid $530,000 for the masks and will return them to the Hopi and San Carlos Apache tribes.

As Gregory Annenberg Weingarten, director of the Annenberg Foundation said, “These are not trophies to have on one’s mantel. They do not belong in auction houses or private collections.”

Three hood masks will go back to the San Carlos Apaches and twenty-one colored masks made of horsehair, wood, feathers and leather will be given back to the Hopis.

Even the US Embassy got involved in the act, calling for a delay on the sale so that tribal representatives could come to France and identify the masks. After the sale, David Killion, the US Ambassador to the UN cultural agency issues a statement with the US Embassy that said the charity’s move was a “generous act.”

In a statement this week, Sam Tenakhongva, a Hopi cultural leader, said “Our hope is that this act sets an example for others that items of significant cultural and religious value can only be properly cared for by those vested with the proper knowledge and responsibility. They simply cannot be put up for sale.”