Photo by Frente a Aratiri Until recently, I thought that Hal was one of a kind, but a recent BBC report has given me pause. I now suspect that Hal and Uruguayan President Jose Mujica were separated at birth. President Mujica, dubbed the “poorest president in the world”, donates 90% of his $12,000/month salary, lives…
Hal shocked many of us by showing up at a holiday event wearing a tie! Even Hal’s student of 50 years ago, Tom Hibberd, AND long time friend, Mary LeFever, had never seen Hal in a tie before. Wonders never cease! Happy New Year!
Tosheka Designs has won our hearts for its job training and job creation in Kenya, its recycling program, and its beautiful purses created out of plastic bags. Nyokabi Mwangi, Tosheka’s associate director, was recently interviewed on a Kenyan television arts program. Here are the first two five-minute segments of that interview. Here’s segment one of…
IceStone is still recovering from hosting five feet of Hurricane Sandy’s salty water in its factory. Here’s a short video on escorting the last bit of this unwanted guest off the premises. IceStone still has no electricity. However, between the natural lighting of its green factory and the delivery of electricity via a very long…
Photo by Maryland GovPics Brooklyn-based IceStone, the producers of countertops and flooring made out of recycled glass, was under 5 feet of water from Sandy. Here is a news story about that. They are still without most of their power. Several other foundation loan recipients, like Cheryl Stevens, who normally work 16-hour days, lost business…
I stumbled upon a film trailer about four young US men, who spent a summer in Guatemala trying to live on a dollar a day. At first I thought, “Well, that doesn’t really count. They knew their situation was only temporary.” Then, Hurricane Sandy took out the power in my neighborhood, and most of my…
A short video produced by Good Eye Video for Fonkoze – the bright, bold, and effective bank in Haiti that services the poor – won the 6th Annual doGooder Nonprofit Video Award for the best video by a medium-sized organization. We told you Fonkoze was among the contenders, but failed to tell you they won!…
It was just a month ago that our loan recipient, Wash Cycle Laundry, won “2012 Best Laundry Service” from Philadelphia Magazine. This week, it won the annual Pacesetter Award from Gearing Up, a non-profit providing women in transition from abuse, addiction, and/or incarceration with the skills, equipment, and guidance to safely ride a bicycle for…
Photo by World Economic Forum Twenty years ago, due to the success of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and its leader and visionary, Muhammad Yunus, Hal was inspired to create the UnTours Foundation. Grameen put micro lending on the map: the idea of providing very small, short term loans to people living on the margins…
Photo by IntelFreePress Well, actually, I gave while shopping. Lots of online stores offer a commission on your purchases to your favorite non-profit. These cyber “stores” and services range from L.L.Bean to Amazon to 1-800-flowers.com — which, by the way, offers Fair Trade Certified roses. If you start your shopping through the igive.com website, your…