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(Photo courtesy of Chris Dourov)

Beer pong, keg stands and overall rowdiness are the stereotypical view of the majority of Greek life on university campuses, but Pi Kappa Phi is trying to change that through working with The Ability Experience, formerly known as PUSH America, to help people with disabilities.

The philanthropy is run and operated by Pi Kappa Phi, the only Greek organization in the country that runs its own philanthropic effort.

Ben Hook, Pi Kappa Phi president, said the purpose of The Ability Experience is to raise awareness for disabled people and make sure they are recognized by their abilities and not their disabilities.

“The Ability Experience is owned by Pi Kappa Phi, so it’s quite literally a philanthropy that is part of our fraternity and not an organization that we donate to,” Hook said.

One of the ways the fraternity raises money for The Ability Experience is by holding an annual bike-a-thon on Hayden Lawn.

“What we do specifically is we hold a bike-a-thon in the spring, which is basically where we get six stationary bikes and it is a 48-hour stationary bike marathon where the pedals never stop moving,” he said. “So we are keeping the pedals moving and never stop for 48 hours to show our solidarity in that people with disabilities have to deal with adversity nonstop all the time.”

The inclusion of disabled people during the bike-a-thon is an important part in raising awareness for the philanthropy and those who may suffer from disabilities themselves, Hook said.

“Many chapters have brought in hand bikes for people to use if they can’t pedal and just having people their to talk and speak out about disabled people’s issues is very important in helping raise awareness,” he said.

Along with the annual bike-a-thon Pi Kappa Phi also participates in the Best Buddies program and Journey of Hope, which is a cross-country bike ride to raise money for The Ability Experience.

Raising money for the philanthropy is the most important part of participating in these activities but the philanthropy itself also helps the fraternity recruit new members, Hook said.

“I would say it’s our biggest selling point to new members, because it is incredibly important to all of us who are in the fraternity to give back through The Ability Experience,” he said.

Pi Kappa Phi member Sam Margolis said the fraternity having its own philanthropy makes the members more passionate in wanting to help.

“Having our own philanthropy was a big part of what made the guys stand out when I was first introduced,” he said.

Restored carousel horse finds new home at White Water Bar & Grill – Canon City Daily RecordCanon City Breaking News, Sports, Weather, TrafficRestored carousel horse finds new home at White Water Bar & Grill
Event co-organizers, John and Pam Marietta, in the forefront, dance to live music by the Lobo & Sheryl Show on Saturday during the Fremont Community Foundation’s annual Cajun Crawl at the Quality Inn.

The most popular item of the night was a restored carousel horse from the Royal Gorge Bridge & Park.

The popular carousel before it was destroyed by the June 2013 Royal Gorge Fire at the Royal Gorge Bridge & Park.

He spoke exclusively with Xavier Smerdon.

The sounds of magpies squawking in the background can be heard across the phone line as Andrew Forrest calls from a decommissioned old people’s home in the Perth suburb of Dalkeith.

The building sat vacant for 25 years before Forrest took it over, tearing down barbed wire fencing and boards across the windows to transform it into the new centre of philanthropy for his Minderoo Foundation.

It is symbolic of the way Forrest approaches many things in life, from his efforts to transform philanthropy, to the way he tackles the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians and the global issue of slavery.

The Chairman and CEO of Fortescue Metals Group, Forrest and his wife Nicola became the first Australians to sign Bill Gates’ and Warren Buffett’s Giving Pledge in 2013 when they committed to give $3 billion to charity.

He also authored the Forrest Review, which aims to create parity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians; founded the Walk Free Foundation and the Global Freedom Network which brought together leaders of the world’s faiths to fight modern slavery.

What do you think some of the greatest challenges facing Australia and the wider global community are?

It’s a really broad issue. We’re in pretty good shape.

But we’re becoming complacent about things which do impact upon us long-term.

I think engagement with Asia – and that’s not only Asia where governments traditionally tend to concentrate like Japan – engagement with Asia is absolutely critical and we cannot take that for granted.

If we use China for example, their ability to have a greater impact on the standard of living of every man, woman and child in Australia is a multiple of (the potential) Japan had (when engaging with Australia as a trade partner) and Japan had a very real impact.

I think we shouldn’t be caught in this Japan and America balance of power politics with China, we should have everyone as our best friend and not pick sides.

That would be one comment, the second comment is political stability. That is a reputation which this country has earned over 100 years and we don’t want to start trading it in the last couple.

I would also like to say that it’s important how a nation treats its least privileged, and that’s not by throwing money, that’s actually giving up on people if you do that.

How a nation treats its most vulnerable and least privileged is a judgement of the quality and the heart of its society.

Before everyone reaches for the chequebooks I’d say, ‘no, no, that’s what leads to the dependency which you see all across vulnerable Australia, Indigenous and non-Indigenous’.

What we need to do is actually remove the causes of alcohol and drug dependency and vulnerability and it fits strongly with the challenges which it takes for a vulnerable Australian to become fully independent.

That’s why I wrote the 256 page Creating Parity review, which we read unofficially is going to be largely adopted, but they’re policies which were aimed to solve the Indigenous disparity completely as a holistic approach, but each policy has to be applicable to all other aspects of vulnerable Australia. What did you think of the results of that report and what do we need to do going forward?

I think that was pretty fertile ground to reinforce what Creating Parity states, that only seismic change has any hope of ending disparity.

If we keep on chiseling away at it and doing what I indicated to you earlier, throwing money instead of heart and leadership at issues, giving up on our fellow Australians by just writing them a cheque, if we keep doing that then we are leading to greater isolation and more empty schools.

We’ve been given a statistic that the West Australian Government alone spends some $50 million on schools with hardly any or no students and if they’re doing that, be assured that every other State is in the same boat to a lesser or greater degree.

That means that wholesale failure is evident in existing services and policies and we must do an about-face.

You’re probably known equally as much for your philanthropy as you are for your business success, so I wanted to ask you what motivates you to give to certain causes?

We would really love to help everyone.

We get asked to support probably hundreds of worthwhile causes and I’m sure we’ve disappointed, and in some cases, although I don’t think it should, offended people who we’ve been unable to help. People who want to restore great buildings or do up museums or help here and there or back certain sporting events.

In the end we’ve decided that we’re going to do what we do in business and that’s strive for the greatest value and benefit possible [that] we can for the amount of money we have available.

Where that’s led us is to help the most underprivileged and the most unrepresented people in Australia, and there’s clearly vulnerable Australians, and in the world, which is clearly the unfortunately rapidly growing modern slavery community which now numbers some one and a half times Australia in population.

That’s where we’ve decided we can get the greatest leverage for our leadership which is our time and our capital.

So that’s what we’re pursuing most vigorously and it’s driven by creating the greatest good we possibly can with limited capital and with limited time. And I said ‘none’.

He told me ‘therefore you’re denying the society you serve the privilege of encouraging a philanthropic community within its heart and I really strongly think Andrew you should think about that and think about setting an example as well’.

So we were persuaded to do that and we did it tentatively at first in very small steps at first.

Malcolm McCusker, who actually went on to become Governor of Western Australia, now serves as a Director on Minderoo’s Board, so I was clearly moved by his insights and advice.

I actually think he’s correct there’s a massive philanthropic powerhouse that pumps in the heart of almost every American yet here we still suffer a tall poppy syndrome.

I remember the first time I came out with a donation, and I had to do it because it was a donation of shares in a public company and I was Chief Executive.

Following his 13th birthday celebration and bar mitzvah, the Lynn Middle School student donated a portion of his monetary gifts to Big Kitty Fix, a program dedicated to reducing the number of cats entering the shelter by providing low-cost spaying and neutering services and good homes for all cats throughout DoA a Ana County.

“It is important to give back, and for me personally, I felt it was important to give to Big Kitty Fix,” said Hyman who presented a check for $375 on Thursday to Big Kitty Fix and the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico, the fiscal sponsor of the program. The 12-point plan includes: positive support for the shelter director and staff; adequate public and private funding for the initiative; public relations for more community involvement; engaging many volunteers; increased pet retention by owners; proactive approach to returning lost animals; high-volume, low-cost sterilization; a program to address feral and free roaming cats; more innovative programs at the shelter; active reliance on dog and cat rescue groups; foster care for dogs and cats and a comprehensive adoption program.

For more information on the Big Kitty Fix, visitwww.bigkittyfix.org or Big Kitty Fix on Facebook.

Civil War observance is set for April; community invited | Monroe Courier

It hit Buffett that many of us only have about 40 years to achieve our goals.

In his campaign to eradicate food insecurity, he spends part of each year teaching farming methods and trying to improve people’s lives in more than 120 countries.

He soon learned his efforts and those of other nongovernmental organizations (known as NGOs, usually charitable groups) often aren’t as successful as first visualized, usually due to a lack of knowledge of the area.

For example, when a program used American grain surpluses to fight world hunger while helping American farmers find a market for their crops, Mozambique farmers who also sold corn saw their market price drop and provide less income for their families.

Many nonprofits don’t factor in how locals would handle a situation.

Local corruption often diverts aid; in South Sudan, for example, armed groups of militants blockade a village and take about 30 percent of food sent by an NGO, enough to supply themselves while keeping villagers hungry but not so much the NGO will refuse to send more food.

Steven Crandell: When Philanthropy Must Lead

In 1984, Irene and Aaron Diamond decided to give a significant portion of the money Aaron Diamond had earned in real estate to the people and institutions of New York.

Because of complications due to the liquidation of Diamond’s estate, the new foundation had two years to perform research before the 10-year countdown began. The foundation spent $50 million on AIDS research, making it the largest private supporter of such research in America at the time.

Some philanthropists follow the example of the Aaron Diamond Foundation and use an aggressive results-oriented approach to carry out their giving strategy.

For more information, see this guide, Setting a Time Horizon How Long Should Your Foundation or Giving Program Last, from Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.
Daily Noozhawk

Community Foundation of Northwest Connecticut Accepting Grant Applications

The Women & Girls Fund at The Community Foundation of Northwest Connecticut is currently accepting grant applications for program and capital goods and/or equipment grants for eligible nonprofit organizations that provide programs and services for women and girls in Connecticut’s Northwest Corner.

The Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation‘s mission is to enrich the quality of life for residents of the 20 town service area in Connecticut’s northwest corner through the generosity of fund holders.

The Women & Girls Fund, established by area women in 1999, is comprised of nearly 200 donors who are committed to improving the lives of women and girls in Northwest Connecticut by raising awareness and pooling resources.