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

Bruce Willis Helps the Boot Campaign

motorcycleBruce Willis is helping out the charity Boot Campaign in a rather unusual and creative way. Two months ago, he donated a 2005 Ducati 1000DS motorcycle which sold for $6250. Now, he’s offered up a 1988 Yamaha TW that is valued at $1400. The bidding had reached $1450 on February 8th with just three bidders fighting it out for the bike.

Boot Campaign released this statement from Bruce Willis, “I wanted to use my bikes in a way that would benefit our military service members, and I am thankful to have found the Boot Campaign as the catalyst for using my bikes in a way that will give back to our country’s true heroes.” He continued, “These bikes have been a lot of fun to ride, and my hope is they can do a lot of good for our veterans.”

Boot Campaign will be auctioning off his five bikes in two month intervals. The next bikes up will be the 1962 Cushman Eagle and then the 1991 Yamaha XT. The last auction will be in August with his 1972 H-D Ironhead Sportster XLH.

Scientific Approach to Dealing with Hunger

hungerIn the spirit of using his business acumen in his role as philanthropist, John Arnold gave a generous donation to setting up the Houston Food Bank.  Through the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, the Houston Food Bank received $10m grant so the facility could actually be constructed.  However, it was given with the understanding that officials there consider ways of using its system to tackle larger issues of poverty, unemployment and chronic health.  In addition, Arnold found it interesting that data from the food bank showed that most of its end users were actually not derelict and had places to live.  However, in times of fiscal difficulties, they chose to pay rent rather than use the money for food, resulting in hunger.  Thus the hunger in these cases was actually caused by unemployment – an issue Arnold found the Houston Food Bank was failing to address.

Today, when John Arnold donates funds, he does so through a “scientific” approach.  This makes sense given his success as a trader at Enron and then later, as founder of Centaurus. Maura Daly, Chief Development Officer of Feeding America, is impressed with the way John Arnold is using the scientific approach developed as a trader, to donate monies.  He says, “the great thing about the Arnolds is that they are not thinking small.  Most billionaires don’t have the luxury of putting forty years into solving a problem.”

John Arnold pushed CEO and President of the Houston Food Bank, Brian Greene to try to figure out a way to help the poor access other essential services to ultimately prevent the need for the food.  For example, perhaps job-training could be given?  Or, a way of getting healthier like programs to manage Type 2 Diabetes to stop individuals ending up with chronic health problems and not being able to work thus leading to inadequate financial resources with which to buy food.  In other words, Arnold works on a systematic approach to philanthropy.

Meet Pete Townshend & Benefit the Children’s Defense Fund

peteIf you’re a fan of The Who, this might be your big chance to enjoy seeing them. CharityBuzz.com is auctioning off your chance to meet Pete Townshend and to get four great seats to The Who concert on February 21 in New York at the Nassau Coliseum. The auction benefits the Children’s Defense Fund.

As stated at CharityBuzz, “The mission of the Children’s Defense Fund is to Leave No Child Behind and to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.CDF provides a strong, effective voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby, or speak for themselves. We pay particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities. CDF educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventive investment before they get sick or into trouble, drop out of school, or suffer family breakdown.”

Being part of the auction means that you can support a worthy cause and get to meet a legend at the same time!

Taylor Swift Named 2012 Most Charitable Celebrity

taylor swift 1She may have trouble in love, but she’s doing right by those in need. Taylor Swift was just recently named the most charitable celebrity of 2012. The 23 year old country music singer received the award by DoSomething.org, which just released its top 20 Celebs Gone Good of 2012 awards.

Swift was recognized for donating $4 million to the Country Hall of Fame museum and for being the youngest recipient of the Ripple of Hope Award from the Robert F. Kennedy Center for her charity work.

Taking second place was Miley Cyrus. She was recognized for her work with the non-profit animal activist group Saving Spot! Rescue. Third on the list was Channing Tatum who was given a nod for his work with the Rainforest Foundation. Lady Gaga received kudos as the forth place winner and Justin Bieber got the fifth spot for his work with Pencils of Promise and his Believe Charity Drive.

Way to Go Angie Harmon!

harmonUNICEF has just announced that actress Angie Harmon will now be their official face, and the new UNICEF Ambassador. Her first role as the new ambassador will be in a Public Service Announcement that she’s making to raise awareness about child trafficking and urge Americans to be part of the solution.

These 15, 30 and 60 second PSAs will air this month, which is Human Trafficking Awareness Month.

As Harmon said, “After learning about the horrifying practice of child trafficking both in the United States and abroad, I knew I had to do something about it. That’s what drew me to UNICEF. I believe that ZERO children should be forced into prostitution or made to work, especially at dangerous jobs. I look forward to working with UNICEF to help reach a day when every child has a safe and healthy childhood.”

As Caryl Stern, President and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, recently said, “We’re thrilled to have Angie Harmon join our efforts to help ensure the health, education, equality and protection of every child.”

Angie Harmon will be in very good company as the new Ambassador. Past Ambassadors have included: Audrey Hepburn, Laurence Fishburne, Selena Gomez, Alyssa Milano and Sarah Jessica Parker.

“12-12-12” Benefits Hurricane Sandy Victims

On December 12th, Madison Square Garden hosted “12-12-12”, a fundraising event aimed at supporting victims of Hurricane Sandy. The concert featured performances by Bon Jovi, Eric Clapton, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, The Who and many others.

The concert was presented by Chase, with the proceeds sent to the Robin Hood Relief Fund. Robin Hood, an independent poverty-fighting organization founded by Paul Tudor Jones II, donates 100% of its proceeds to charity.

The concert was produced by Madison Square Garden Executive Director James Dolan, Clear Channel Entertainment Enterprises President John Sykes, and The Weinstein Company Co-Founder and Chairman Harvey Weinstein.

 

 

Buy the Voice of God for Charity : Only $299!

Autism Speaks recently held a brilliant year-end fundraising campaign. They offered supporters the chance to buy custom-recorded messages from celebrities like Tom Hanks, Ed Asner, Will Ferrell, Carrie Fisher, Derek Jeter, Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Betty White and Morgan Freeman.

One of the fastest selling items, according to Marc Sirkin, the charity’s chief digital marketing officer, was the Morgan Freeman recording, as his deep voice has earned him the nickname “Voice of God.” The campaign ran for the first week of December only, and anyone who wanted a voicemail greeting from a star could donate $299 to Autism Speaks. Each celebrity message was limited to 50 people. When a message was purchased, the fan was able to tailor a script for the celebrity to say, as long as it didn’t include any advertising. Each celebrity had final approval of the messages.

When the campaign ended, 346 of the possible 500 messages were sold. They raised $103,000 for Autism Speaks. Hear more from Austism Speaks about this campaign.

See more with their video for the campaign.

Ideas for Charitable Giving to Education

classSometimes, even if you have the time or money to dedicate towards helping others, you just don’t know where to begin. It’s ironic that we often end up doing nothing simply because we don’t have direction for our efforts. For people who are interested in improving educational opportunities for children in America and around the world, there are certainly thousands of resources.

One way to help children and to impact educational services is to think small. Talk to a local school and see what needs they have in the library. You might start a few magazine subscriptions from National Publishers Exchange or another company and have those educational magazines sent to the library each month. Turtle magazine, for instance, helps early readers and can be sent by National Publishers Exchange each month.

For people who want to send money somewhere or do something more global, here are just three of the thousands of possibilities to give you a taste of the choices for charitable giving.

1. Aura’s House: This is a grassroots project that raises money for housing, health, income generation and educational projects for children in developing countries. since 2003, they have been working with Children International.

2. ClassWish: This is a nonprofit organization that addresses the shortage of teaching supplies by allowing teachers, administrators and others to go to ClassWish.org and create Wish Lists of the items they need for their classes. People can then pitch in to help with the needs that the school identifies.

3. Say Yes to Education, Inc.: This is a United States non-profit that wants to improve inner-city schools. They offer support services at at-risk locations and pledge full scholarships for college or vocational education for children living in poverty.

Baby Buggy Charity Event at alice + olivia

Starting November 27th and going through Christmas Eve, the alice + olivia and DASH boutiques people can drop off new and unused toys, books and diapers as part of the Baby Buggyholiday charity. Kourtney Kardashian and the team at DASH have been collecting essentials for the holidays for awhile now. More recently, Jessica Seinfeld and Stacey Bendet have joined forces with Kourtney and they are expanding the efforts nationwide.

All customers who come into the DASH and alice + Olivia boutiques with these charity items will get a 15% discount at all of their stores. It’s certainly a win-win situation for all involved over the holiday season!

Baldwins and So Lucky To B Me Pair Up for Charity

So Lucky To B Me has just enjoyed a wonder pairing with the Baldwin family. Hailey and Alaia Baldwin, daughters of director, producer and author Stephen Baldwin will help So Lucky To B Me to raise awareness for breast cancer research and support for the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund. This organization, founded by Stephen’s mom, helps with all types of research for breast cancer. A portion of all sales of the So Lucky To B Me clothing will be donated to the fund.

As Hailey explained, “What this company stands for is really great, and the shirts are an awesome representation of the love that comes from the heart of the Fund.”

Alaia added, “The women who are working hard behind the scenes of So Lucky To B Me and behind CMBBCRF are the greatest examples of strong women. They can all relate to those who are going through the hardest of times. Andie Graff’s desire to support my grandmother’s organization is truly a blessing.”

The shirts were designed by Andie Graff, the founder and designer behind So Lucky To B Me. She explained her inspiration for her line of clothing as she said, “I created the line to share messages of empowerment to help build women’s self-esteem and encourage them to believe that they are more than enough, simply by being themselves. I am thrilled to partner with an organization that is also working so tirelessly on behalf of women.”