John has much experience working in the philanthropic world, and takes great interest in charitable goings on today.

Home Front Cares Annual Fundraiser

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Taya Kyle, widow of former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, has certainly gotten a lot of press in the last few years. She co-authored “American Sniper” with her late husband and then wrote “American Wife: A Memoir of Love, Service, Faith, and Renewal” after he was murdered in 2013. This past week, more than 1100 people gathered to raise money for Home Front Cares, a Colorado Springs military charity that has given cash assistance to nearly 400 military families in 2015 alone.

As she said at the event, “I’m preaching to the choir tonight.” When discussing her marriage she said, “God sent me the nicest person I ever met, in the form of a sniper.”

Describing Home Front, she said, “It’s those little acts of kindness that are a beacon of light. There are a lot of patriotic people out there who care.”

This was their 11th annual fundraiser for Home Front Cares, founded in Colorado Springs in 2003 by two Vietnam Veterans. Charity executive director April Speake said, “We’ve already brought in so much,” Speake said. “I think it is going to be a record-breaking night.”

17th Annual debra of America Benefit

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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.

 

Hot Wheels Keep One Son’s Memory Alive

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Losing your four year old in a freak accident isn’t something that any family expects. Finding a way to deal with that grief through creativity is certainly inspiring. Hilary and Zac Cheney lost their son in 2012, when a 100 year old gravestone fell on him. At the time of his death, he loved playing with toy cars and he even had one in his hand when he died.

On the first anniversary of their son’s death, Hilary Cheney thought of a way to keep Carson’s memory alive. She and her husbands started hiding toy cars in their packaging around their hometown of Lehi, Utah with a card that honors Carson’s memory. The card said, “Finders keepers. Please enjoy this gift in honor of Carson Cheney, July 31, 2007-July 5, 2012.”

It also directs the finder to the Carson Courage Cars Facebook page where they can share their feelings about their discovery. The idea has really taken off and Carson Courage Cars have been showing up all over the world. Facebook posts point to Japan, Germany, Sweden, Italy and more. Every Sunday, as reported by a store owner in Wisconsin, he hides 100 more cars in memory of Carson

They feel like they are able to continue taking care of their son in this way.

Humble Bundle Offering Great Charity Options

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If you love games, then you’ll want to check out the Humble Store where 10% of all profits go to support charities. This means that buying games helps out charities. So far, the company has donated more than $3 million since it launched in November of 2013. Until today, however, you were only able to select a few charities. Humble Bundle just announced a new “choose your own charity” choice that will now let you direct your money to thousands of different organizations in the US and the UK.

To select your own charity, you simply go to the Humble Store and click “select a new one” in the charity window. You can then browse the list of available charities. They have many options like Doctors Without Borders, Greenpeace, and the American Red Cross.

As co-founder of Humble Bundle, John Graham, explained “There are a wealth of amazing charities out there. We don’t ever like saying no to great causes but in curating things ourselves, we find ourselves mainly picking larger nonprofits that have awesome established global brands that we think will resonate with our community as a whole. With this new feature, if parts of our community want to give aid to homeless shelters in San Francisco and others wish to provide fresh drinking water to Ethiopia, they can choose as they please.”

 

Astros Outfielder George Springer Hosts Charity Event

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Astros outfielder George Springer has managed to take his own struggles and do something amazing with his fame. He is the spokesperson for Camp SAY which works with children who have speech impediments. He raises money for them and encourages those who are challenged to have confidence. Most recently, he hosted a bowling event at Lucky Strike on Monday July 20, 2015.

As he said, “It is completely all right to be who you are and who you want to be. You can’t let anything stop you from being that person.”
And he’s certainly a great example of being who you want to be. He was drafted in the first round by the Astros in 2011, joined the major leagues last season and is also focused on being a community leader.

As he said, “I’m glad to help. I understand exactly what they are experiencing. I have been there before and experienced everything. The ups and downs. The highs and the lows. It is kind of surreal to be able to go out and help some kids while basing everything off my firsthand experience.”

His speech has gotten better over the years and he attributes some of this to the help of family and friends. The Astros have also been incredibly supportive. At a recent bowling party for Camp SAY, the Astros owner Jim Crane and manager AJ Hinch were in attendance.

As president of business operations, Reid Ryan, who was also there said,

“I applaud George for basically tackling this early in his career and saying I want to help kids and show people that there are kids just like me. The kids at camp are very lucky but more importantly, I think the city of Houston is lucky to have guy like George Springer on our team.”

4 Military Charities in Need of Help

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american-flag-301166_640With the 4th of July just behind us, it’s a great time to think about those who might be in need. And this is particularly true if it’s soldiers – people who have defended our country in time of need. Here, at http://www.business2community.com, they list 8 military charities that need assistance. Here is an overview of four of them:

The Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund: This fund offers financial aid and quality of life solutions for marines and sailors. It also supports members of the Army, Air Force and Coast Guard who served in support of Marines, and their families.

National Military Family Association: As the website explains, “National Military Family Association is the only national organization that for more than 40 years has represented officer and enlisted families of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Public Health Service. The organization helps those seeking resources for: themselves and combat-weary service members returning home from war with fragile mental health, for optimistic-but-anxious children separated from parents during deployments, for spouses forging ahead with educations to build better lives for their families or to prepare for the unthinkable, for widows seeking information about benefits available to them as they cope with their losses, and for proud parents of single service members.”

The Navy SEAL Foundation: Their mission is to provide educational and motivational support and to promote health and welfare programs for the Naval Special Warfare Community.

Operation Homefront: They provide emergency assistance and morale to the troops and the families they leave behind. It also supports the soldiers when they return home.

Biden’s Campaign Money Goes to Charity

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While Beau Biden’s demise is tragic, it’s heartwarming to see that money put towards his campaign is going to a good use. The money remaining in his political accounts will fund the new Beau Biden Foundation for the Protection of Children. The charity has, so far, collected more than $250,000 in donations in its first week. As of December 31, Biden’s political committees, which included Beau PAC and Biden for Delaware, reported approximately $660,000.

Biden, the eldest son of Vice President Joe Biden, died on May 30 after a battle with brain cancer.

 

Taya Kyle Starts Charitable Foundation

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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.

 

Chideo Is Taking Off

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If you haven’t heard about Chideo yet – you will. Chideo – the combination of the words charity and video – has enlisted more than 100 VIP participants so far. This includes people from YouTube, sports figures, Academy Award winners and others. Patricia Arquette even gave Chideo a shout-out at the Oscars.

So, what is Chideo? It’s part of Todd Wagner’s plan to build a charity network. As he said,

“If you can have a Military Channel and a History Channel, I don’t see any reason there can’t be a ‘Cause Network.'”

He also explained, “More than anything, (Chideo) is me saying, ‘I’m just going to build this thing. I’m going to build what I believe will help these organizations and they just need to plug into it.'”

At the moment, online donations are only a tiny fraction of the money that is raised by charitable causes. Wagner contends that online giving only amounts to 8% of total charitable contributions.

As Wagner said about the endeavor, “We haven’t even started. We’re still in preseason as to where I think this can go.”

Most of Chideo’s video content is free to the public. 80% of the revenue will go to the charity and donations above the asking price will go completely to the charity..

The cost of hosting a charity event can actually reduce what the charity gets by as much as 40%. By teaming with Chideo, the charity gets more money and a greater reach than if they are just in a single ballroom, as Harry Freedman of the Stategic Fundraising Initiatives in Philadelphia explains.

 

 

Great Turn Out for MJ&M Event

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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.