Stories
For the Love of Chocolate: Improving Lives of Cocoa Farmers Around the World
During the week of Valentine’s Day, more than 58 million pounds of chocolate will be purchased in the United States and delivered to friends and loved ones in heart-shaped boxes or red-colored foil. Yet before the pink and red packaging, and before the caramel or nougat-filled centers, our much-loved chocolate candies first begin as small cocoa beans grown and harvested by one of the five million smallholder cocoa farmers living in developing countries. Approximately 80-90% of cocoa in the world…
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Love Your Neighbor
The celebration of Valentine’s Day typically centers on romantic love. This year since Valentine’s Day and the start of the Lenten season fall within a week of each other, I am challenging myself (and of course you) to focus on love in all of its varying forms, particularly love for our neighbor. The Greeks describe love in four forms: Eros, (romantic), Phileo, (friendship), Storge (family) and Agape (unconditional, enduring love). Agape is described as “to take pleasure in the thing, prize…
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Giving Up Indifference for Lent
Today, Ash Wednesday, marks the beginning of Lent for those who observe that period leading up to Easter, preparing hearts and minds for Jesus’ act of love and sacrifice. Many mark the period by making sacrifices of their own, giving up foods or other indulgences. The Pope’s Lenten message last year has been particularly striking for me. He asked that we consider giving up indifference toward others. That we open up our hearts to suffering and pain, lest “We end up being incapable of feeling…
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Vicki Escarra and Members of C200 visit Uganda
C200 members Jennifer Smith, Beth Leonard, Vicki Escarra, Angela Bastian and Amy Langer visited the areas of Kawempe and Kamwokya in Kampala, Uganda, last week to meet Opportunity International clients and see the organization’s humanitarian programs in action.
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Opportunity International Honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Nearly 50 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave a speech at Riverside Church. It still resonates today. On this day of commemoration, I am striving to think about what being a Good Samaritan means in the sense that Dr. King meant it – that no one should be left by the roadside. I’m also reflecting on what it means as part of Opportunity International’s motivation, which states that we seek to emulate the Good Samaritan’s compassion which crossed ethnic groups and religions. This motivation…
Read MoreCreating a Lasting Impact
When Mark Klopp is faced with major life decisions, he literally pounds the pavement.This avid runner uses the miles he logs on foot as focused time for prayer, contemplation, and meditation. When he’s not running, he does research to make sure he has all the necessary information to make big decisions. He is nothing if not thorough. And changing his lifelong approach to philanthropy was no different.A former corporate executive now living in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mark began his giving journey…
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One Amazing Gift – A Job
"On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ... a partridge in a pear tree." Unlike the lone partridge in the pear tree, our clients are surrounded by the support they need from their very first loan. On the first day our clients increase their income, they begin to achieve their first goal: to educate their children. Then, the first thing our clients do when their business grows is to create jobs for their neighbors. Gallup CEO Jim Clifton shared recently that according to the Gallup…
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A Loving Pair Build A Strong Nest
"On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ... Two turle doves." I want to introduce you to an amazing couple. They have been through so much together, and yet their love, positivity and determination remain unwavering. They are my version of turtle doves — together for life, a symbol of love and peace. Martha and her husband are originally from Huila, a province in the southern part of Colombia. They lived on a farm where they were raising their young son. Huila is one of the areas…
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Feeding the Flock: Empowering Smallholder Farmers to Improve Food Security
"On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me three French hens ..." Three French hens may be a small flock, but for a rural community, even a small flock can make a big impact. Around the world, approximately 80% of farms are smallholder farms, constituted of about five acres of less, with many located in rural, marginalized communities. However, two-thirds of smallholder farmers in Africa are poor and malnourished. Without the ability to invest in quality seed and fertilizer, these farmers…
Read MoreNew law passed giving better benefits for donations made via your IRA
As we close out 2015, tax deductions and exemptions are at the forefront of many people’s minds. The IRA Charitable Rollover tax exemption was recently made permanent—and just in the nick of time to take advantage of it in 2015! If you’re not familiar with this exemption, it allows each owner age 70½ and older to make charitable contributions—up to a maximum of $100,000 a year—from their IRA accounts. These distributions for charitable purposes are not taxed, are not included in your…
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