The foundation receives many accolades, both public and private. One accolade this week caught us by surprise. In with her regular loan repayment check, Brenda Davis, the “Iron Woman” of Ironman, Inc., included a donation to the foundation. Of course, I called her to ask the story behind the gift. She said that she’s looked…
One of the foundation’s newest loan recipients, Wash Cycle Laundry, just won “Best Laundry Service 2012” in the readers’ choice awards through the Philadelphia Magazine. We couldn’t be more proud of this dynamic, start-up company! And how does one run a laundry service on bikes?! Here’s how. We welcome your support of our work. “After…
Photo courtesy of Gray Panthers of San Francisco One of my personal heroes is Maggie Kuhn, the feisty founder of the Gray Panthers. I had the delight of befriending Maggie when she was in her 80’s. We went together several times a year to do something that is not in my basic nature: clothes shopping!…
When writer Carol Metzker met an 11-year-old girl rescued from slavery, she realized she had two options: to bury the shocking information so it couldn’t cause her greater pain, or to face the monster of child slavery and work to make change. She chose the latter, sending her on a journey into the dark world…
If they can handle it, the UnTours Foundation loan recipients receive as much technical assistance and TLC as we can muster. Frequently, we call on experts for additional help. Today, Media, PA, retailer, Andrew Britton, offered several hours of time to Lucy Lau Bigham, co-owner of Tosheka Designs, producer of beautiful bags and purses made…
Garstang, UK, the World’s First Fairtrade Town, is one of Media, PA’s sister cities. The fairtrade town concept is the brainchild of Quaker and veterinarian, Bruce Crowther, a Garstang resident. Bruce has now inspired over 1,000 towns and cities in 22 nations on 5 continents to go Fair Trade. Bruce tries every which way to…
In profiling the UnTours Foundation Board, there is of course the big cheese, Hal Taussig. The fact that Hal is co-founder and president of this almost 20-year old foundation is a bit odd in that Hal doesn’t believe in non-profits as a serious tool for addressing real change in the world. But Hal had business…
Dal LaMagna, CEO of our loan recipient, IceStone, traveled to Iraq and Jordan in 2006 to try to negotiate a cease-fire between Iraqi insurgents and the Coalition Forces – alone! I wrote about IceStone in the last UnTours Eurozine, and my colleague, Ellen Peters, spotted Dal’s name and told me she heard his amazing diplomacy…
Our interest in sustainable energy led us in 2005 to ground-breaking work taking place on various Indian Reservations in South Dakota. Hal, foundation board member Mary LeFever, and Untourists/foundation donors Rod and Shirley DePue visited some of this work in 2006. Their hosts included Patrick Spears, a leader in various capacities including former tribal chairman….
At my house, we park our shoes at the door to reduce our carbon footprints since we don’t have to vacuum as much. Not! It is true that the house stays cleaner and we don’t have to vacuum as often with the shoes-at-door-practice, but the truth is we just don’t like to clean and therefore…