Philanthropy : In The News

The New York Times teases the Philadelphia Art Commission's expected Wednesday vote to approve plans for a 40-foot high stainless steel sculpture at the new Barnes Foundation site on the Ben Franklin Parkway.

The sculpture, called “The Barnes Totem,’’ was designed to echo the vertical forms of the red maple trees lining a path to the museum’s entrance. Mr. Kelly selected the site in collaboration with the landscape architect Laurie Olin and architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien.

Original source: The New York Times
Read the full story here.

Philadelphia sisters Claire and Nikka Landau and friend Jason Tucker have established PhilaSoup as a monthly dinner bringing together dynamic educators to fund the most ambitious and innovative projects, reports NPR.

On a recent Sunday night, the trio of friends welcomed about 45 teachers and other members of the local education community to a cozy gathering at the University Barge Club, a 19th-century boathouse on the banks of the Schuylkill River. As folks walked in, they were asked to fill out name tags -- with their names and the names of their favorite children's books.

"Teachers all over Philadelphia are doing terrific projects," Claire said. "It's really exciting to gather and break bread with teachers from across the city doing exciting things."

Original source: NPR
Read the full story here.

Berwyn-based B Lab is leading the push for Benefit Corporation legislation in Oregon, reports Sustainable Business Oregon.

The legislation would provide a legal framework for companies to register as a company dedicated to providing a public benefit. The designation would be available as an option alongside C Corporation or S Corporation.

Similar legislation has been passed in California, Vermont, Hawaii, New York, Maryland and New Jersey and is pending in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan and the District of Columbia.

Original source: Sustainable Business Oregon
Read the full story here.

The Free Library of Philadelphia and Allentown's DaVinci Discovery Center of Science and Technology are among 12 winners of a combined $1.2 million in grant funding to establish teen learning labs, reports The Digital Shift.

The 12 winners-four museums and eight libraries-selected from a pool of 98 applicants from 32 states, will receive a total of $1.2 million in grants. They include the New York Hall of Science and the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL), which are among a growing number of schools and libraries that are slowly embracing the idea of learning labs and the self-directed style of instruction they add to support the curriculum. The labs will connect teens to mentors and peers, as well as offer them 24/7 access to information through online social networks so they can pursue their interests more deeply There are usually no tests. They’re often after-school. And students are often encouraged to play, in a sense, with the materials and technology around them in an informal way, acting as co-teachers in their own education.

Original source: The Digital Shift
Read the full story here.

The Franklin Institute has received the largest gift in its 187 year history, according to Philanthropy Today.

Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute has received the largest pledge in its history, $10-million from the businessman Nicholas Karabots, The Philadelphia Inquirer writes.

The donation puts the science center within $6-million of its $64.7-million campaign goal to fund an addition and other upgrades.

The new wing will be named for Mr. Karabots and his wife, Athena, and house exhibits on the brain and neuroscience as well as conference and classroom facilities.

Mr. Karabots, a South Bronx native who made a fortune in printing supplies and property development, said he was inspired to make the gift when he visited the institute "and saw what they were doing with all these kids. I went up to the observatory and there were four inner-city kids who were spending a year learning astronomy. I was impressed."

Source: Philanthropy Today
Read the full story here.

A Huntingdon Valley online bookseller with a socially conscious focus, Education By Inclusion recently gave a $40,000 scholarship to a Camden, NJ resident, according to The Chestnut Hill Local.

Who would have thought that reselling books and electronics could be such a lucrative business and result in scholarship money for needy students?  Flourtown resident Chetan Bagga, a Columbia University graduate, ran the numbers and started Education by Inclusion (EBI) about a year ago.

The home page of their web site offers this comment to customers. "We are a socially conscious online bookstore with a simple promise -- everything you buy contributes to a deserving student’s education. This year, you’ve made over 100,000 purchases toward scholarships. We sincerely thank you! Let’s keep the momentum going."

Source: The Chestnut Hill Local
Read the full story here.

Voice of America reports on Philadelphia plans to open 48 computer centers in homeless shelters, recreation centers and libraries in order to give more people access to the Internet.

The United Nations recently declared Internet access to be a human right. But in the United States, as in many other countries, millions of people do not have access to the wealth of information found online. In Philadelphia, communities are responding to narrow the digital divide.

Source: Voice of America
Read the full story here.

The Associated Press checks in on Philly-based online kids' bookstore Monkeyreader donates 5 percent of profits to childhood literacy.

Once upon a time, there was a bookstore. One day, the bookstore went away and reopened online with a new name and a mission to combat childhood illiteracy.

The rest of the story of year-old e-tailer MonkeyReader.com is still being written but its founders hope the ending will be happy�and successful.

"We're beginning, we're growing, we have a lot of great ideas," co-founder David Lenett of the venture, a successor of the Discovery Bookshop, a popular Philadelphia children's bookstore that closed in the 1990s and became an online storefront that evolved into the more interactive MonkeyReader site. 

Source: The Associated Press
Read the full story here.

The New York Times reports on the not-quite unanimous move to file for bankruptcy and the spirit of playing on as the Philadelphia Orchestra regroups.

The Philadelphia Orchestra's program Saturday night was to include music from the Berg opera "Lulu," and the ensemble hopes to avoid the protagonist's tawdry end. The board of the Philadelphia Orchestra's program voted Saturday to file for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11. Unlike Lulu, who died at the hands of Jack the Ripper, the orchestra will live on, rehearsing and continuing to give concerts while a bankruptcy court judges considers the case.

Source: The New York Times
Read the full story here.

Actor and rapper Will Smith provided 30 computers to West Philly High School, according to ABC News.

Will Smith is donating replacements for 30 stolen computers to a high school in West Philadelphia, where he was born and raised.

The Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation and the Charlie Mack Cares philanthropic organizations are giving 29 Apple laptops and one desktop to West Philadelphia High School.

Source: ABC News
Read the full story here.

The Los Angeles Times is the latest major media outlet to question the move of the Barnes Museum from suburban Merion to Center City Philadelphia.

Is the new Barnes Museum headed for disaster? Designed to house the art collection of the Barnes Foundation, with its hundreds of Cezannes, Renoirs, Matisses, Picassos and other early modern masters, a new building is under construction in downtown Philadelphia where the collection is scheduled to move from its current home in Merion, Pa. Yet serious questions remain about the rationale for the move and the museum's long-term sustainability.

Source: Los Angeles Times
Read the full story here.

 35,000 vintage toys and trains assembled by a Philadelphia collector are to be auctioned by Sotheby'saccording to the Associated Press.
 
5,000 pieces alone fill the entire floor of Sotheby's auction house in New York, where they are on display until the end of the month.

The collector, Jerry Greene, has kept the collection in five basement rooms of his suburban Philadelphia home, Sotheby's said. He says it's now time to part with it and wants to share it with the world, but wants to find a buyer who will acquire all of it.

Known as the Jerni Collection, it is considered the largest and most comprehensive toy collection in the world, valued in the tens of millions of dollars, said Sotheby's, which is brokering the sale for Greene. It will not be auctioned.

Original Source: Associated Press
Read the full story here.