Have you donated time, money, or other resources over the past year to help make the neighborhood/city/world a better place? If so, you’re in good company–Marylanders are some of the most charitable people in the country, according to Forbes.
Tag: giving
Jada Pinkett Smith Makes Major Donation to Baltimore Crime Victims
Jada Pinkett Smith was born in Baltimore, and the city still seems to hold a special place in her heart. Last week, the actress made a major contribution to the Victims Emergency Fund, which helps support victims and witnesses of crime–more than the entire amount the fund dispersed last year, in fact.
Give to the Maryland Food Bank for the Holidays
Though you might not know it, Maryland is the wealthiest state in the country. And yet, hundreds of thousands of Marylanders don’t know where their next meal is coming from. That’s more than ever before, and includes over a quarter of a million children. During the holidays, the need is especially great. Demand for food surges as the weather gets colder. And while many of us are able to put food on the holiday table without giving much thought to the cost of a few extra trimmings, the cost of feeding a whole family on a regular basis can be prohibitive for so many of our fellow Baltimoreans. So while you shop this year, we’d like to encourage you to also consider donating to an organization that will absolutely put your money to good use– The Maryland Food Bank.
Okay to Play: A Local, Kid-Run Charity
Vasi Argeroplos isn’t exactly your average teen. While most young people look forward to the holidays as a time when they’ll be unwrapping present after present, for Argeroplos, this time of year (and every time of year) has more to do with giving toys, and making sure that every kid– not just those with parents who can afford it– has access to toys, entertainment, and everything else that makes childhood, well, childhood. The Garrison Forest School student was inspired to start her very own charity program after watching a documentary on television about children in orphanages and foster care.
“They did not have anything to play with or enjoy or even learn with,” says Vasi. “[My brother and I] spoke to our father and said we would love to try to help children have fun, laugh and have something to play with.”
Make a Little Roar: Support Little Lions Day
Our friends over at Cool Progeny have asked us to spread the word about the inspiring project, the Little Lion Challenge, that cool progeny and its founder Heather Walsh are hosting tomorrow. View the video below to learn more or visit coolprogeny.com. – The Eds.
One year ago, a brave little guy came roaring into our lives and things were never quite the same again. In honor of his first birthday, we’re declaring February 11th LITTLE LION CHALLENGE Day. And we’re asking you to help us pay it forward!
How To Participate
Talk to your kids, your coworkers, your students, your friends… Ask yourselves what’s ONE small thing we can do to make a little roar? To brighten’s someone’s day? Make the world a kinder place? Maybe you’re organize a small toy round up and make a donation to your local hospital. Maybe you’re going to assemble a bag of canned goods to take to your local shelter. Maybe you’ll surprise a neighbor with some homemade cookies. It can be ANYTHING. Need some inspiration? Check out our 100 Ways to Rock the Little Lion Challenge.
Baltimore Native and City College Alum David Rubenstein Among America’s Biggest Philanthropists
With donations of $1.9 billion, or about 2.6% of his total wealth, Bill Gates tops the list of American philanthropists in 2012, Forbes reported ahead of Thanksgiving. Investment guru Warren Buffet was a close second with $1.87 billion.
Community Leader and Philanthropist Sidney Silber Dies at 95
Sidney Silber died on Tuesday, July 30 at the age of 95. In tribute to this lifelong Baltimorean, community leader and philanthropist, we re-publish today two previous Baltimore Fishbowl articles about him. The first is one in a series of profiles of vibrant Baltimoreans over 80, titled “8 over 80.” The second is from our garden blog: “How Does Your Garden Show?” Sidney Silber’s accomplishments in business and real estate were equaled by his accomplishment at home, where he and his wife Jean created one of the finest gardens in Maryland. We extend our deepest sympathy to Jean, their children Janet, Douglas and Paul and to their beloved grandchildren. – The Eds.
8 Over 80
Sidney Silber
Originally published November 8, 2011 –
D.O.B: January 12, 1918, Baltimore, Maryland Education: Baltimore Polytechnic Institute ’35
M.I.T. ’39 (Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honorary Society) Service: Non-military, high-priority defense work as experimental flight test engineer for Boeing Aircraft Company, Seattle, Washington, 1939-1946 Career, Present and Past:
Sidney Silber, at 93, is still fully engaged in his art and horticulture, two of three passionate, long-running avocations. (Racing sailboats in Annapolis is the third, from which he now takes leave.) All have paralleled his three careers as engineer, bakery president and commercial real estate developer.Silber pursues drawing and painting with devotion — he drew well as a child and honed the skill in mechanical drawing courses at Poly, M.I.T., and at Boeing where he did flight analysis. There he flew on 50 test flights, including those of the B-17 and the first pressurized military airplane, the B-29, which was designed to carry the atom bomb.
M.I.T. ’39 (Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honorary Society) Service: Non-military, high-priority defense work as experimental flight test engineer for Boeing Aircraft Company, Seattle, Washington, 1939-1946 Career, Present and Past:
Sidney Silber, at 93, is still fully engaged in his art and horticulture, two of three passionate, long-running avocations. (Racing sailboats in Annapolis is the third, from which he now takes leave.) All have paralleled his three careers as engineer, bakery president and commercial real estate developer.Silber pursues drawing and painting with devotion — he drew well as a child and honed the skill in mechanical drawing courses at Poly, M.I.T., and at Boeing where he did flight analysis. There he flew on 50 test flights, including those of the B-17 and the first pressurized military airplane, the B-29, which was designed to carry the atom bomb.
After the death of his father and brother, Silber returned to Baltimore in 1946. Using engineering and increasing real estate acumen, he expanded the now-legendary family business, Silber Bakeries, to 25 shops. After leaving the business in 1962, he founded Commercial and Industrial Realty Corporation and for 27 years developed residential, commercial and industrial properties.
The proceeds from the sales of those properties created the Jean and Sidney Silber Foundation. Today cultural and educational institutions, as well as Baltimore non-profits focused on education and poverty, occupy much of his interest, philanthropy and time.
So does horticulture. “We had no garden on Monroe Street,” he says of the home where he and seven siblings grew up above the bakery. In 1959 he and his wife Jean combined energy, intellect, artistic and engineering talent to begin a six-acre masterpiece in Lutherville. Fifty-two years later it is considered one the finest gardens in Maryland and the U.S.
While he officially retired in 1990, Silber never stopped working. In khaki pants and oxford cloth shirt, he is found early in the morning and late in the afternoon, with a folding pruning saw and clippers, tending his “living work of art” that draws visitors on private tours from all over the country to see the garden and hear its botanically expert owners lecture.
Among many sculptures in the garden are several of his own, all bronze. (His sculpture is also in the collections of M.I.T. and Goucher College.) Besides collecting art, his current passion is portrait painting. Many line the walls of his studio off the garden.
Key to longevity of engagement: “Shall I say, a young wife?” he laughs. “Jeannie keeps me going…. I think you should always be a student,” says the man, just back from a painting class, who studied law at Boeing, real estate and finance in the bakery business and art, horticulture and history for as long as he can remember. “Physical activity is important too.”
Current challenge: In the art: “Drawing it well, mixing the colors right… I draw. I paint. My eyesight is good, but I still can’t see what I’m supposed to see.” In the garden: “What to do with the garden in the future.” In philanthropy: “How to make the decisions every year.”
This Friday: Fashion Meets Philanthropy
Fall is full of big fashion events. This season we’ve already seen Fashion’s Night Out and New York Fashion Week. While those are both events that the clothing-conscious might wait for all year, neither can boast raising over $40,000 for local educational institutions, or showcasing the many talents of our city’s youth. So what event does accomplish such wonders? The Art of Giving– a fashion show this Friday featuring Ruth Shaw’s latest fall fashion and benefiting Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA) and the Kennedy Krieger Institute.
Charitably Chic: Shop to Give
The retail industry has taken a hit in today’s fledgling economy. Our pockets are more shallow, we’ve tightened our belts, and it’s hard to justify accessorizing this new look without cause. The industry has met this challenge by aligning with charitable causes to incentivize shoppers and assuage their retail guilt. This month, the fashionable philanthropy is all over Baltimore, with local retailers offering shoppers a number of ways to contribute to the community.
From now until October 23rd, the shops at The Village of Cross Keys are offering a number of charitable incentives through the shopping center’s semi-annual Cross Keys Cares event. The Pied Piper, for instance, is collecting cash contributions and donating a percentage of sales for the Children’s Cancer Foundation. Ruth Shaw, J. Jill, and The Store Ltd. are collecting gently warn clothing and cash donations for The House of Ruth, which helps lead the victims of domestic violence to safety and shelter. (Ruth Shaw gives a certificate for lunch at the Village Square Cafe as a thank you too.) Talbots is collecting men’s and women’s winter clothing and shoes for Paul’s Place, which provides programs and services to support struggling families in Southwest Baltimore. There are over a dozen shops offering opportunities to get involved. For a full list of store and charity involvement, visit the Cross Keys website.
Earlier this year, The House of Ruth introduced its resale boutique, Ruth’s Closet, which collects gently used high-end fashions for resale, with 100% of profits benefitting the House of Ruth Maryland services for victims of domestic violence. Later this month, Ruth’s Closet will host its “One Great Thing,” event, which offers shoppers an exclusive opportunity to grab some valued furs, boots, handbags and accessories donated by some of Baltimore’s most fashionable women. The event takes place from 5-7:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 27th and will include expert guidance from a professional furrier. For more information, visit www.hruth.org.
Next month, Green Spring Station is getting in on the giving during its “The Weigh to Shop,” incentive, which aims to help Baltimore soup kitchen Our Daily Bread stock its shelves for the holiday season. Customers can bring canned goods to the Nut Farm & Creamery at Green Spring Station and, in an added plus, Green Spring Station will donate a percentage of sales from future purchases based on the weight of customers’ contributions. For contributions weighing ten pounds or less, Green Spring Station will donate 10 percent of your next purchase to Our Daily Bread. For contributions weighing more than ten pounds, Green Spring Station will donate 20 percent of your next purchase. The week-long event will take place from November 12-19.
This month, feel good about splurging on that new fall wardrobe – it’s for a good cause, after all.
Rebel with a Cause
Great style is all about expressing individuality, and it turns out Chris Warren’s clothing tells a very personal story. The hip and trendy South Moon Under men’s department manager (spotted outside the Harbor East boutique) uses his fashion savvy to hook people into giving to causes he cares about. Giving while getting. That’s the best style.
Chris Warren, 26
You look like you’re going to class not work!
Yeah, I like to dress in jeans and a T -shirt most of the time and sometimes a woven.
A woven? You speak a designer’s language. Are you a fashion designer?
I design T-shirts with a friend. We are just starting our company.
Did you design the one you’re wearing? What do the letters stand for?
TSP? The Shift Project. We design T-shirts now but hope to get into wovens and sweaters.
Where did you get the name?
We both believe you have to contribute to change the world and when you hit the shift button on your keyboard everything changes. And it’s a project. So, The Shift Project.
Have you sold
any T-shirts?
any T-shirts?We are now on Facebook and developing a website. But we’re trying to keep the cost down so we can donate six or seven percent of what we bring in to a different charity or institution each month. The first one is personal. We hope to give to Kennedy Krieger because my brother is there in rehab after a football accident left him paralyzed from the waist down. At 15. And the next month it will be the Susan G. Komen Foundation because my friend’s mother had breast cancer. Selling our collection will hopefully allow us to give to many causes we believe in.
I wish you great success. And how is your brother today?
He’s great. He’s 23. And he wears our T-shirts all the time!
