Mark Bezos, Assistant Captain of a volunteer fire company in Westchester County, New York, reminds us to not wait to make a difference in somebody’s life. “If you have something to give, give it now.”
Mark Bezos hams it up and strikes the classic hero pose as he reminds us “Don’t wait to be a hero”.
After selling his advertising agency, Mark joined Robin Hood, a poverty-fighting charity in New York City, “excited to have found a way to use his powers of persuasion for good.”
…in both my vocation at Robin Hood and my avocation as a volunteer firefighter I am witness to acts of generosity and kindness on a monumental scale. But I’m also witness to acts of grace and courage on an individual basis. And you know what I’ve learned? They all matter.
One of the highlights from the Sustainable Brands 2011 Conference in Monterey last week was the talk from Ronald Shaich, founder of Panera Bread, that the Panera Cares Community Café program is doing well and is expanding, after just one year. (His talk has yet to be posted online, but the video above is from his talk last November at the TEDxStLouis conference.)
Opening of the first Panera Cares Café in Clayton, MO
Panera Cares is a new kind of cafe – one that exemplifies an entirely different way of giving back. It is a community cafe of shared responsibility. One of the goals of this charitable program is to ensure that everyone who needs a meal gets one. People are encouraged to take what they need and donate their fair share. There are no prices or cash registers, only suggested donation levels and donation bins.
The vision for the Panera Cares Café was to use Panera’s unique restaurant skills to address real societal needs and make a direct impact in communities, … these community cafés make a difference by addressing the food insecurity issues that affect millions of Americans.
Even though Panera Bread already gives as much as $150M a year in food and other donations, Ron felt more could be done with a hands-on approach.
We don’t really do something. What we do is let somebody pick up the food [donations] and it disappears. We don’t connect with it. We don’t use our skills. We don’t make a difference in ways in which we could in the opportunities that are in front of us…
Drawing on his own experiences volunteering at food banks and food outreach organizations, he saw an opportunity to bring his entrepreneurial spirit, business experience and the resources of Panera Bread to the problem.
Inspired by a story he saw about the SAME Café in Denver, CO, he set about to convince others in his publicly traded company to take the risk and put their corporate reputation on the line and set up the non-profit Panera Bread Foundation to start opening these pay-what-you-can cafés.
There are now three self-sustaining Panera Cares Cafés (Clayton, Missouri – Dearborn, Michigan and Portland, Oregon) with plans to open a new one every four months and they are collectively on track to serve at least half a million meals this year.
Ron working the counter
On average Ron says that 20% of people pay more than the suggested donation, 60% pay the suggested amount and 20% pay less or nothing and are able to have access healthy food in a positive and respectful environment. Some people even volunteer time at the café in return for their meals. They also have so many people wanting to volunteer and support the cafés that they aren’t able to fully utilize all the donated hours.
“Take what you need, leave your fair share.”
Well done! Thank you for addressing this issue with dignity and actually doing something at a community involvement level by creating real and positive change with your resources and influence.
Now let’s imagine replicating this “Take what you need, leave your fair share” model to other big businesses!
This short film from TMB Bank’s “Make THE Difference” campaign tells the inspiring true story of the founding of the Panyee FC, which is today one of the most successful youth soccer clubs in Southern Thailand. Koh Panyee is a small fishing village built on stilts and is home to around 200 families.
This film is based on a true story. In 1986 a football team that lived on a little island in the south of Thailand called “Koh Panyee“. It’s a floating village in the middle of the sea that has not an inch of soil. The kids here loved to watch football but had nowhere to play or practice. But they didn’t let that stop them. They challenged the norm and have become a great inspiration for new generations on the island.
Sometimes you just have to make your own platform for success!
