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Posts published in “Philanthropy”

Halle Berry, Michael Kors Launch 'Watch Hunger Stop' Campaign

By goodblacknews on April 8, 2013

 

Halle Berry Michael Kors
NEW YORK — Halle Berry says she’s a woman of compassion and Michael Kors says he’s a man of action. Together, they want to make a dent in the battle against hunger around the world.  The actress and fashion designer announced a philanthropic campaign Monday called Watch Hunger Stop that includes raising money through the sale of a version of Kors’ best-selling Runway watch. For each $295 watch sold, 100 meals will be provided to children through the U.N. World Food Programme.
Berry and Kors are planning to visit places together where the meals will be sent. They could land in Africa, in Syria, perhaps Central America.  The 46-year-old Berry, who is expecting her first child with fiance Olivier Martinez, said in an exclusive joint interview Saturday with Kors: “I hope we go while I’m pregnant, so I can talk about prenatal care.”

Wendell Pierce Creates Supermarket Chain to Help New Orleans Residents

By goodblacknews on April 7, 2013

Wendell Pierce welcomes the first customers inside his 25,000 square-foot store.
Wendell Pierce, best known for his roles on “The Wire” and “Treme” is now launching a chain of grocery and convenience stores in places where fresh food can be hard to find.   As a boy, Pierce dreamed of leaving his hometown one day for the world stage. Today, the veteran actor with global credits has returned on a mission: rebuilding neighborhoods, brick by brick, aisle after aisle.
After Hurricane Katrina devastated this city in 2005, Pierce seized an opportunity to help his childhood neighborhood — Pontchartrain Park, an historic enclave for middle-class blacks — get back on its feet. He started the nonprofit Pontchartrain Park Community Development Corp. with a goal of replacing hundreds of flood-ravaged, 1950s-era houses with new homes.  Now, the next item in his recovery recipe is a long-missing ingredient.
Pierce, 50, and his partners are investing big in something seemingly so small: convenient access to a grocery store. They have launched a chain of convenience stores, Sterling Express, and a full-service grocery store, called Sterling Farms, the latter just unveiled in what is often described as a “food desert,” a neighborhood where residents must travel more than a mile to a store selling fresh food. According to 2011 data, 19 percent of all Orleans Parish households have no access to a vehicle.

Desmond Tutu Wins 2013 Templeton Prize With $1.7 Million Award

By goodblacknews on April 4, 2013
Desmond Tutu Templeton

Desmond Tutu was named this year’s winner of the 2013 Templeton Prize.
Desmond Tutu, the former Anglican archbishop of Cape Town who rose to international fame as he helped lead the fight against apartheid in South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s, was named the 2013 Templeton Prize winner Thursday.  The honor, which comes with a $1.7 million award, is given annually by the West Conshohocken, Penn.-based John Templeton Foundation. It has, in recent years, been awarded to academics who work at the nexus of religion and science.
Tutu is being awarded for his promotion of what the foundation calls “spiritual progress,” including love, forgiveness and human liberation, especially after the fall of apartheid when he chaired South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The commission addressed tensions between perpetrators of the apartheid state and reformers, and granted amnesty on both sides to hundreds of requests out of thousands that were submitted. It is considered key to the nation’s democratic transition in the 1990s.
“When you are in a crowd and you stand out from the crowd it’s usually because you are being carried on the shoulders of others,” Tutu said in response to receiving the prize in a video on the Templeton website. “I want to acknowledge all the wonderful people who accepted me as their leader at home and so to accept this prize, as it were, in a representative capacity.”

Detroit Receives $8 Million Worth of Donated Police Cruisers and Ambulances

By goodblacknews on March 30, 2013

detroit ambulances
The business community donated $8 million dollars worth of police cruisers and ambulances to Detroit to improve emergency response times, said Mayor Bing on Monday.

With the donation, the city of Detroit now has 23 new ambulances, allowing the city to replace its current fleet of ambulances which frequently break down.

“This is not about downtown; this is not about Midtown; this is about the neighborhoods, so we can go out into these neighborhoods and let our people know that we support them, and we have not forgotten about them,” Bing said.
Bing says this is an indication of how the city and business leaders are working together to fight crime in the city.
“We believe these additional vehicles will enhance the visibility of the police and fire efforts in the city of Detroit, improve safety and security in our neighborhoods and have an immediate and lasting impact for everyone who lives, works and plays in our city,” said Roger Penske, founder and chairman of Penske Corp., the Bloomfield Hills-based transportation services firm.
Pictures of the new vehicles shown at a press conference revealed that the cruisers added to the fleet were Dodge Chargers, Ford Tauruses and Chevrolet Caprices. The EMS vehicles were Horton Terrastar ambulances.  The new cruisers and ambulances are being outfitted with new equipment and should be ready to use within the next two to four months.
article via yourblackworld.net

Denver Broncos’ Von Miller Tackles Poor Eyesight with "Von's Vision" Charity Foundation

By goodblacknews on March 22, 2013
Denver Broncos' Von Miller talks to the press after receiving the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year at the 2012 NFL Honors at the Murat Theatre on February 4, 2012 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joey Foley/Getty Images)

Denver Broncos’ Von Miller talks to the press after receiving the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year at the 2012 NFL Honors at the Murat Theatre on February 4, 2012 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joey Foley/Getty Images)

He sat down with theGrio at the unveiling of AXE’s Face range and Shave line to discuss how having good vision contributed to his career success and what he’s learned about leadership from teammate and Denver Quarterback Peyton Manning.
What about good vision made you want to pursue it as a charitable effort?
I feel like society puts emphasis on maintaining your senses, eating the right foods, and personal hygiene, yet I feel not enough is not dedicated to your eyes. While you’re able to get your teeth fixed or replaced when they’re not cleaned properly, you only have one pair of eyes you know?
If you start off having a bad foundation in relation to your eyes at an early age, you’re starting off on the wrong foot as a kid. You’d be amazed to know how many kids need glasses, but aren’t aware that they have eye problems. I’m here with my foundation to solve that.

First Lady Michelle Obama Delivers Easter Gifts to Military Families

By goodblacknews on March 21, 2013
First lady Michelle Obama smiles during a reception for Ireland's prime minister in the East Room of the White House on March 19, 2013 in Washington, DC. President Obama met with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny prior to the annual St. Patrick's Day lunch hosted at the Capitol. (Photo by Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images)

First lady Michelle Obama smiles during a reception for Ireland’s prime minister in the East Room of the White House on March 19, 2013 in Washington, DC. President Obama met with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny prior to the annual St. Patrick’s Day lunch hosted at the Capitol. (Photo by Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images)

BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — Michelle Obama marked the first day of spring with an early Easter celebration as she delivered holiday treats to military families and children.  The first lady stopped by the Fisher House at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., on Wednesday as families decorated Easter cards.
She asked the children if they were ready “to show me how to make some stuff.”  Mrs. Obama, accompanied by first dog Bo, carried a basket full of cookies made by the White House pastry chefs in the shape of the Portuguese water dog.  She also brought tickets for the families to attend the White House Egg Roll on April 1.  The Fisher House program provides temporary housing for military families while their loved ones receive medical care.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press by Stacy A. Anderson via thegrio.com
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Jackie Robinson Film Screenings to Help Kansas City Negro Leagues Museum

By goodblacknews on March 21, 2013

42

Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson in a scene from “42.” (Warner Bros. Pictures)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City was announced Wednesday as the host site for the only advance public screenings of a film chronicling the rise of Jackie Robinson, a nod to the city where the baseball great made his professional debut two years before breaking the major league color barrier.  Harrison Ford stars as former Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey in the film, “42,” which details Robinson’s Rookie of the Year season in 1947 while combating unabashed racism on and off the diamond.
Ford and fellow cast member Andre Holland planned to attend the screenings on April 11 at a movie theater on the city’s north side. Proceeds will benefit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, museum president Bob Kendrick said.  Although the story of Robinson in Brooklyn is well known, Kendrick said Kansas City also played a prominent role in his early career. Robinson played for the Kansas City Monarchs, a member of the Negro Leagues, in 1945, batting .387 while hitting five home runs and stole 13 bases in 47 games. After a year in the minor leagues, he joined the Dodgers in 1947 and won the inaugural Rookie of the Year award.

Homeless Man Who Returned Ring Gets Over $175K in Donations, Reconnects with Family

By goodblacknews on March 7, 2013
Billy Ray Harris’ story has inspired a windfall of donations.
When Kansas City homeless man Billy Ray Harris returned Sarah Darling’s engagement ring last month after she accidentally dropped it in his cup, it could have been the end of the story.  Instead, the experience has changed his life.  In the weeks since his good deed went viral, Harris has gained national attention, and supporters have raised over $175,000 for him to find a new home.
Something even more valuable happened: Harris is back in touch with his family, from whom he was estranged for the last 16 years.  Amid the media storm around the engagement ring episode, Robin Harris, Billy Ray’s younger sister, happened to come across an article about her brother, and reached out to the local news station that first reported the story for help tracking him down.
“When I turned my head, I recognized the name, and I turned back around and I looked at the picture again, and it was my brother,” Robin told TODAY.com. “I called and I said, ‘that’s my brother. I’ve been looking for him for 16 years.'”  Robin, who still lives in Texas where the family grew up, said she made repeated efforts to find her brother over the years, but had heard varying reports about his whereabouts, and was even once told that he had died.

Boston's Housing Partnership Network Receives MacArthur Award To Create Affordable Housing

By goodblacknews on March 3, 2013

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwFEH_iaEAE&w=560&h=315]

Collaboration and entrepreneurship to help house America

America’s housing problems are daunting. Millions of families pay more than half of their income for a place to live. Rampant foreclosures have destabilized neighborhoods across the country and left millions of households owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. At the same time, federal, state and local resources for housing and community development are shrinking. As a result, organizations committed to affordable housing must be more entrepreneurial than ever.

The Housing Partnership Network improves the lives of millions of individuals, families and communities by sparking innovation and collaboration among 100 of the nation’s affordable housing and community development nonprofits. By incubating innovative joint ventures and creating ongoing opportunities for peer learning and collaboration, the Network helps its members realize significant economies of scale, achieve greater collective impact, and exercise greater influence on public policy. Collectively, the Network and its member organizations employ more than 13,000 people in nearly 200 offices, operating in 75% of the nation’s major metro areas and in every state in the country.
The Housing Partnership Network has a history of spotlighting critical problems and marshaling the expertise and resources needed to launch innovative, scalable solutions. For example, after the 9/11 tragedy, insurance premiums rose dramatically. The Network created a property and casualty insurance company that controlled costs for its members and now provides more than $7 billion of insurance covering 57,000 units of affordable rental housing.

Family Care International Receives $1 Million MacArthur Grant to Improve Maternal Health Globally

By goodblacknews on March 2, 2013

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zpqx3Y3KSNQ&w=560&h=315]

Making pregnancy and childbirth safer

Every two minutes, somewhere in the world, a woman dies from preventable or treatable complications of pregnancy and childbirth. For every woman who dies, 20 more experience serious illness or disability. And every year, three million babies do not survive their first month of life.

When Family Care International was founded 25 years ago, the world was paying little attention to the hundreds of thousands of women who were dying each year. The first international organization dedicated to reducing maternal death, Family Care International helped put the issue of maternal health on the map. Now maternal mortality has been cut in half, but much work remains to be done.
Headquartered in New York City with locally-staffed offices in three countries in Africa and two in Latin America, Family Care International works in close partnership with governments, civil society organizations, donors, communities, grassroots advocates, and women’s groups. Pairing efforts to strengthen the capacity of local organizations, advocates, and governments with a powerful advocacy voice on the global stage, the organization works to ensure that all women have access to the maternal and reproductive health care they need. Doing so saves the lives and protects the health of women and improves the well-being and prosperity of their children, families, and communities.