Tales Of A Fourth Generation Textile Executive: The Charity Gift That Keeps On Giving

Both of my parents are turning 70 this year.  Every year the family goes through the same struggle of figuring out what gifts to get them.   Of course, this year is a big birthday, so we need to step things up a little bit, right?  Enough of the belts, night gowns, gift cards, wallets, scarves and other material things that are here today and gone tomorrow.  This year it was time for a gift that keeps on giving.  I am sure you want to know what it is already, right?

I recently joined the board of the local JCC where I live.  In light of this, our company has started to send the JCC fabric to be used however they deem appropriate.  This got me thinking, and after speaking with my siblings and some of the leadership at the JCC, this is what we came up with (title/description):

The Andrea & Robert Fortunoff Art For Community Program

Art for Community provides opportunities for children and families to participate in meaningful community service projects creating beautiful and functional items made from fabric to be donated to those in need.

Just the other night, we went out to celebrate my mom’s birthday at a local Greek restaurant and revealed this new program to my parents.  I think they were very surprised and they thought it was so cool to have this program named in their honor.  Not only that, but to think that this program could be around for decades to come even makes it that much more special.  In essence, this is the gift that keeps on giving back to our local community.  Moreover, this is definitely something our family can be very proud to be a part of.  I look forward to seeing how this program develops and hope to be able to report some feel good stories to you on this front for many years to come.  In the meantime, if you check out a recent blog of mine, you could see one of the first Art For Community Events.

Enjoy the rest of August!

Scott