Working to Give: Philanthropies & Philanthropic Work

Taya Kyle was the wife, and now widow, of Chris Kyle. He was the Navy SEAL known for the memoir “American Sniper.” Now, she is on a book tour, “American Wife,” and is working with her new foundation, the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation.

Her goal with the foundation is to provide breaks for military couples, veterans and first-responders such as the police and the fire fighters.

In her book, Kyle talks about her own marriage and how it almost fell apart a number of times. As Kyle told the U-T Talks audience,

“Nobody wants to tell their spouse: ‘You have the most fulfilling, purposeful existence in a job that you’ve dreamed of — and I’m out. It does feel unpatriotic.”

The Kyle foundation has joined with several others with links to the Navy SEAL community.

Kyle described the foundation as: “I know for a fact, when you give them a weekend away, even in their own hometown, where they can stay in their sweatpants or whatever, and they can do whatever they want with no stress, no bills, and not at home where there are things to do … that gives them a longevity that you can’t get any other way.”

Last month, around Chris Kyle’s birthday, the foundation gave $55,000 to many charities that work on behalf of veterans and the New York Fire Department.

It’s nice to see stars putting their hearts where their money is. Mack, Jack & McConaughey (MJ&M) is a joint fundraising effort of Academy Award winning actor Matthew McConaughey, ACM Award-winning recording artist Jack Ingram and ESPN analyst and coaching legend Mack Brown. Together, they have created a two day fun-filled event that includes music, golf and fashion.

The event recently took place on April 16-17 in Austin with a charity gala at Moody Theater. The event included a silent auction and music from a number of musicians, including Toby Keith.

Proceeds from the events go to such organizations as CureDuchenne, HeartGift, just keep giving foundation and others.

If only all Hollywood stars would use their star power for good like Chris Evans and Chris Pratt recently did. The pair recently came to Seattle Children’s Hospital – and Evans was dressed in his full Captain America outfit. Sine Evans is a Patriots fan and Pratt loves the Seahawks, they made a bet to see who would win at the Superbowl. And the loser had to put on his Guardians of the Galaxy outfit to see the kids at Evans’ favorite charity in Boston. then, Evans decided to be a good sport and to visit Pratt’s favorite charity in return.

Together they have helped Seattle Children’s and Christopher’s Haven in Boston to raise more than $27,000 since the year started. As Lisa Brandenburg, the president of Seattle Children’s said:

We are grateful that real-life superheroes Chris Pratt and Chris Evans turned their sports rivalry into an opportunity to support kids in their communities. We are delighted that patients and families at both Seattle Children’s and Christopher’s Haven will benefit from these generous donations.

Let’s hope more actors can show this type of amazing charity. See more details of their amazing visit here.

Poking fun at controversy is often good for business, as a Pennsylvania candy maker has just discovered. Making fun of the Patriots’ “Deflategate” scandal, Sarris Candies of Canonsburg just auctioned off a deflated chocolate football.

As Sarris said on Friday, “What started out as an internal little joke ended up picking up momentum and excitement. It’s going to a good cause, so that’s the best thing.” He originally posted the football on Facebook as a joke and didn’t intend to sell it.

He named the ball the Bradie ball (in reference to Tom Brady but with a different spelling so as not to get into trouble). The Facebook caption read, “Net weight 13 lbs … Oops! We meant 11.2 lbs.”

Richard Bazzy spent $5,000 on the package which included the deflated chocolate, two regular shaped chocolate footballs and two chocolate helmets. In total, $20,000 was given to the Dollar Enery Fund which provides utility help for poor residents. As Bazzy said, “It doesn’t get any better when you can poke fun at an AFC rival while knowing that you are also helping families in need. We expect to display the football in one of our dealerships with pride.”

Adam Sandoval is on a mission. He’s got his Harley Davidson and his dog, Scooter, at his side and he’s going to stop at every Harley Davidson dealership in the United States this year. That’s 696 stops – all to raise money for kids who have lost parents at war.

As he said, “I never was a soldier, I never served. Always wanted to, and I regret never serving.”

So now, as a way to give back, he’s giving 100% of the money that he raises to the cause. As he said, “That’s my donation, my time my energy…I’m paying for the campaign. Everybody else is paying for money to help the kids, and together we’re doing something that I’m very proud of.”

He said, “Everything I live on fits on a motorcycle. And I’m richer than I’ve ever been in my life.”

Read more about Adam and follow his journey as he crosses the country.