Traditionally, a medical ID bracelet or necklace would be an item to hide. Children who were required to wear these for medical reasons would either feel embarrassed by them, or feel that they were unattractive. Not anymore.
Today, Hope Paige Designs creates fashionable medical accessories. They have recently announced their second annual celebrity-driven campaign whereby 12 stars have created customized Hope Paige medical ID bracelets to benefit charities and raise awareness.
The newly involved celebrities, Angela Bassett, Mayim Bialik, Carrie Ann Inaba and Daniele Jonas, join Melissa Joan Hart, Kimora Lee Simmons, Leeza Gibbons, Misty May Treanor, Dot Marie Jones, Greg Grunberg, Meatloaf and Kenton Duty as they raise awareness and money for good causes.
Hope Paige will donate 100% of the profits from each of the celebrity bracelets to the charity that the celebrity has chosen. Last year’s total reached $50,000 for charities. The bracelet pricing starts at $29.95 and can be used for diabetes, allergies, strokes, seizures and many other medical condition alerts.
As Shelly Fisher, the founder of Hope Paige explained, “We are so appreciative that these celebrities have come on board to help us raise awareness about the importance of wearing a medical ID bracelet. The creativity of these charity minded celebrities are sure to encourage people to be safe while donating to some truly great causes.”
The Philanthropy Connection
Some women think about doing something grand, while others actually do it. Marla Felcher, a 56 year old former Harvard University Professor, saw a need and figured out a way to answer it. She realized that many educated, successful, affluent women would be interested in giving to charities, but that they didn’t always know how to do so.
And so Felcher, along with Dharma E. Cortes (a public health researcher) and Suzanne Carter (a businesswoman and non-profit executive) founded Philanthropy Connection. They began by recruiting 100 women, each of whom would commit to giving $1000. Today, less than a year later, the charity has 130 women and has awarded $26,000 to five nonprofits that provide services for women, families, children and young adults.
As Marla Felcher said, “One of the biggest surprises has been that people really love giving. All you have to do is ask.”
One of the attractions of this organization is that donors can have a hands-on opportunity to help selection the recipient organizations. There is yearlong selection process to find the nonprofits with an annual operating budget of less than $4 million to whom to give funds. As one donor, Anna C. Vouros explained, “It’s not just give your money and go away. It’s give your money and then be a part of it.”
The Philanthropy Connection has a member list that includes doctors, professors, students, writers, lawyers and others. They are typically 50 or older and work full or part time.
Trying to attract younger women to be involved as well, the Philanthropy Connection created a Young Philanthropist Fellowship program for 18-30 year old women who want to be part of the organization but who can’t afford the $1000 donation to join. Twenty young women recently applied for the five fellowships they awarded.
The five nonprofits that were selected for grants this year were: the Family Nurturing Center of Massachusetts in Dorchester, Crossroads for Kids in Duxbury, REACH Beyond Domestic Violence, RESPOND, and Adoption and Foster Care Mentoring in Boston.