Philanthropy

This month's guest blog is about stepping out of your comfort zone in order to be the forever family a young teen deserves. “At that moment, I knew I would be the one human who would be there for her – no matter what. I knew I wanted to hear her call me “mom.” I wanted to help her pick out her prom dress, to teach her to drive, to watch her walk across the graduation stage. Someday, I may be the mother of a bride and the grandmother to her children. No matter what, I will always be her mom.”

Rebuilding Together, the leading home and community revitalization national non-profit organization, today announced the launch of [Re]Build, a grassroots movement to repair homes and revitalize communities across the country.

In a time when technology has transformed people’s lives in so many ways, financial services is one area where the full potential of the Internet era has yet to be realized. We’ve been hearing for decades about how the decline of cash and the rise of the digital economy will revolutionize financial services and usher in more convenient, accessible and affordable transactions. But so far, the traditional financial order remains firmly in place. While change is underway, the way most people move and manage their money hasn’t changed much since credit cards appeared on the scene 50 years ago. And there’s still plenty of friction in the system.

The Disney Conservation Fund (DCF) is providing grants totaling more than $8 million to support the work of 80 nonprofit organizations this year, The Walt Disney Company announced today. The grants are part of Disney’s “Reverse the Decline” initiative, which pairs the company’s philanthropic dollars with professional expertise from Disney’s Animals, Science, and Environment team and other employees to maximize the impact of conservation efforts to protect wildlife and wild places. Including these new grants, DCF has awarded more than $70 million to date to support conservation efforts around the world.

Like most widespread issues, local hunger can only be solved when the whole community works together. To help draw attention to the issue of hunger and recognize some of those who are making a difference to end it, Second Harvest Heartland recently announced seven Hunger Heroes who are making a compassionate impact.

Former New York City Mayor and philanthropist Michael Bloomberg says he has a responsibility to help the environment as the Trump administration has backed down from its role in the Paris climate agreement. He said on "Face the Nation" he will write a check for $4.5 million this year to fund that mission.

Today, Michael R. Bloomberg, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Action, announced a contribution to support the operations of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, including its work to help countries implement their commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement. The contribution realizes Bloomberg’s promise from June 2017 to fill a significant funding gap that comes as a result of President Donald Trump’s intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and proposed steep budget cuts for international programs, including those on climate.

In celebration of the spring TOYOTA OWNERS 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race, Smithfield Foods, Inc., and Kroger joined forces at Richmond Raceway over the weekend to donate more than 40,000 pounds of protein to FeedMore, Central Virginia’s core hunger-relief organization. Assisting with the donation was Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Smithfield’s contribution is part of the company’s 2018 Helping Hungry Homes® tour. Now in the program’s 10th year, Helping Hungry Homes® is Smithfield’s signature hunger-relief initiative focused on alleviating hunger and helping Americans become more food secure.

As thousands of runners prepared to take part at the 16th annual Banque Scotia 21k de Montréal, one of Quebec's most important road races and fundraising runs, Scotiabank announced its $1 million donation to Montreal's Sainte-Justine University Hospital Centre.

Someone asked me recently if they should focus on making a lot of money early in their career and then do something impact-focused later. That is essentially an investment decision about how to spend your time and resources along your career path. Every person’s path is different, but from my experience, earning enough to have your own seed capital is helpful – particularly for being an entrepreneur in the investment industry and starting a new venture fund. I seeded Pique Fund with my own capital. It wasn’t a lot, but it was necessary because investors wanted to see that I was putting my own money where my mouth is. What I lacked in capital, I made up for in terms of expertise and network. c