The UnTours Foundation has begun 2014 with a new loan recipient, Philly Compost. Why commercial compost, you might ask? The food waste problemOver 36 million tons (72 billion pounds!) of food waste reached landfills in 2011 in the United States, according to the EPA. That’s an estimated 1,400 calories per person, per day. Meanwhile food…
Shannon was a gift to me from my board, which saw better than I that I was drowning in work after Hal retired. Shannon was hired to be my amazing colleague, which she is indeed! A film editor by training, Shannon worked on several of Ken Burns’ film projects. You can see some of her…
Along with the winter solstice and the New Year, there was Hal’s 89th birthday! Nothing like an office birthday party with cake, laughs, and plenty of hugs to go around with our fearless leader and visionary. Happy Birthday, Hal! We love you! “It takes a long time to become young.” Pablo Picasso
In addition to lots of good things, like children going to school and land farmed sustainably, Fair Trade requires Fair Trade importers to pay farmers a “premium” at the end of the growing season. Fair Trade farmers then decide as a community how to spend the premium often investing in schools and health clinics. Here’s…
We are delighted—or perhaps re-lighted!—to be invested in One Degree Solar, producers of “BrightBox,” the best solar light and small appliance recharger we have yet seen. Most solar light brands last only until the first part on them breaks. Replacement parts, including bulbs, are especially hard to find in low wealth communities, where these lights…
Well, actually, just a few paragraphs are. Our friends at SosteNica featured the UnTours Foundation and me in their fall newsletter. Find us on pages 2 & 3. SosteNica supports beautiful, green development in Nicaragua. I was recently at their office in West Chester, PA, which is affordably in the home of SosteNica’s president, Alan…
Photo courtesy of North Durham Rotary Club The current focus areas of The Rotary Foundation are a close fit to the principles of Fair Trade. Rotary’s foci are the following: Promoting peace Fighting disease Providing clean water Saving mothers and children Supporting education Growing local economies The principles and rules of Fair Trade are simply…
So, what does one of Hal’s employees do on her day off in New York City? What else? Bike riding! And what better place than Central Park. (Yes, I should have worn a helmet, and didn’t learn till after my ride that a helmet came with my rental.) And what else did I do? Took…
Witness to Innocence (WTI), which received a bridge loan from our foundation last year, is celebrating its 10th anniversary. WTI empowers death row survivors, whose convictions have been overturned, and their loved ones to be effective leaders in abolishing the death penalty. I attended WTI anniversary festivities this week meeting the fiery, feisty, fearless,…
So, what are the perks for our foundation’s loan recipients? Technical assistance and a cheerleading squad at every turn – like it or not! Last week I wore the cheerleader hat and spoke at the Philadelphia Convention Center on behalf of Tosheka Designs, which continues to train and hire 400 women in Kenya to make…