Charity begins at home

Hollywood actor and environmental activist extraordinaire Ed Begley Jr. is in an environmental “duel” with his neighbor and friend Bill Nye, TV’s “Science Guy,” according to recent news stories. It’s the eco-friendly version of keeping up with the Joneses. When I read about their friendly competition I mused about how transformational it would be if businesses and corporations could relate to each other in a similar way, not only around the environment but other avenues of altruism. “Hey, out-give THIS, you philanthropist wimps!” How fabulous it would be to have CEO and CFO types throwing down a “We Give Bigger And Better Than You Do” gauntlet!

We may have the perfect business in our own backyard to inspire such a challenge. Many of us know about Pasadenans Terry and Jerry Kohl, founders of the highly successful Brighton Collectibles stores, a chain of company-owned retail stores with some independent retailers who carry the Brighton lines. The Kohls are also “top-drawer” philanthropists locally — and now, globally. You may not know that Brighton is a family business and their daughter, Karyn Kohl, is leading the charge on a philanthropic calling she developed when visiting Africa. On the phone Ms. Kohl said “It was a life-changing experience to see just how impoverished these people are. They had no clean water; only disease-ridden filthy water that makes people sick. I had to do something about it.”

“I had to do something about it …” What an understatement. As the de facto director of corporate giving and development for the Brighton enterprise (www.brighton.com), she just completed a highly successful campaign in association with Charity Water, a non-profit whose mission is to impact the global water crisis. (www.charitywater.org/brighton) “My goal was to raise $250,000 in the month-long campaign but we ended up raising $700,000,” said Kohl.

The Brighton story resonated with me for so many reasons. Last year, I had the privilege of donating my solo show “Now That She’s Gone” to a launching event for Women Moving Millions (www.womenmovingmillions.org). Through them I learned just how neglected females are in the grant-making and gift-giving plans of corporations and foundations. I was shocked to learn that even as late as 2005, according to The Foundation Center’s statistical information service, “Philanthropy focused on women still lags within the mainstream. Only 6.4 percent of grants from 1,154 larger foundations in the United States gave specifically to women and girls in 2005.”

A world-wide blind spot exists when it comes to the financial empowerment of women. But Brighton and Charity Water is a stellar example of the power of focusing on a so-called women’s issue: water. In sub-Saharan Africa in particular, the burden of gathering water, fuel and food resources falls squarely on the shoulders of women and girls. And yet, philanthropy often neglects to earmark giving to women, despite the fact that international development experts agree the empowerment of women and girls is KEY to community development for all, obviously including men and boys.

Thirst is gender neutral! Drill for wells and you tap not only water but increased health, better maternal and infant mortality rates and the freed-up time for the education of girls.
On Brighton’s “Think Globally, Act Locally” initiative to provide access to water, Kohl continued, “I used our business as a platform to not only raise money but for my main objective, which is to educate people about the world water crisis.”

The Brighton campaign is an inspiring model for any kind of business. They involved everyone, including the casual window-shopper who saw the window displays during the Charity Water campaign. The Brighton stores sold Brighton bottles of water for $20 — an amount that translates to water for 20 years for one person. Talk about a big bang for the buck. Brighton also rolled out a jewelry design line called Kazuri Beads that was a multi-level win-win product. The beads themselves have a history: they are created by women in Kenya who are paid three times more than the average worker there. Sales of the Kazuri jewelry then yield donations which go back into the Kenyan communities for well-digging.

Brighton customers not only got a beautiful product with the Kazuri jewelry but an education about water. The Brighton sales force learned and participated. The employees at Brighton corporate headquarters held fund-raising lunches, raffles and contests to see which division could raise the most money.

Finally, Karyn Kohl is taking seven people with her — top fund-raisers in the campaign — to Kenya, where they will have a live video feed of digging a well in Kibera (a neighborhood in Nairobi), reputed to be the world’s largest slum. The Brighton wells will be dug next to hospitals because they need clean water to help their patients, but also because hospitals are often in the best, most central locations to serve the greatest number of people.

Businesses out there! Are you listening? How about an “Altruistic Throwdown?” Brighton Collectibles, I’m sure, would love to have you challenge them. 

Contact Ellen at www.snortland.com.