One by One

A delivery is on its way to Easter Seals centers in New York and New Jersey, with 64,000 Amway products to help local families, from laundry detergent to food bars to personal care items. Amway Independent Business Owners will help with the distribution.

This is phase two or our disaster relief efforts, and adds to the $70,000 raised on our website by Amway IBOs and employees for the Red Cross, which will be matched by Amway.

A little over a year ago, a similar effort was underway.

Incessant monsoon rains flooded the streets in Barangays Sumilang and Bagong Ilog in Pasig cities in the Philippines. The government declared a state of emergency. Residents left their houses, businesses and farm lands to seek for shelter. Clean water and food were scarce. 

Amway Philippines General Manager, Leo Boon Wang, led a group of employees to help 300 families affected by the rain. They rolled their sleeves, put on their rubber boots and braved the pouring rain to deliver survival bags full with emergency items. 

Working with local government, Amway Philippines volunteers did what they could to provide immediate relief to those families in need.

It is reassuring to know that when major disasters strike in our communities, Amway people are there to help out.

One of the longest-standing partnerships – which even predates the Amway One by One campaign – is the 30-year partnership between Amway and Easter Seals. Easter Seals provides services for those with disabilities or special needs – services that are often beyond the financial means of families that struggle to care for their children.

Amway Independent Business Owners (IBOs) and employees across North America have made this cause their own, and continue to find creative ways to raise funds – and visibility – for Easter Seals. Recently, several IBOs who have been top contributors and fundraisers over the years were recognized at an event hosted by the New York Yankees baseball team’s “Yankee Stadium Legends Suite Club” – the event itself raising $500,000 for Easter Seals.

The event set the pace for the largest Easter Seals Walk With Me events in the country, this year led by Miss America Laura Kaeppeler.

Miss America not only led the procession to Yankee Stadium on behalf of Amway, but also spent time with IBOs at a local Easter Seals center, meeting with the children and families who benefit from the services.

Click here for a video that shares more about the activities. Thanks to Marsha Champion for sharing this story. 

On April 6th a team of Amway employees and six Amway IBOs leaders from New York attended the Figure Skating in Harlem 2010 Skating with the Stars Gala.

Figure Skating in Harlem (FSH) is a nonprofit organization in Harlem New York committed to providing girls with vital educational and skating opportunities that build self-confidence, promote physical well being and academic achievement.

Candace Matthews, Amway Chief Marketing Office is the board chair of FSH and was honored by the organization along with Olympic Champion Kristi Yamaguchi and Figure Skating in Harlem Board Chair Emerita, Tamara Tunie of Law & Order: SVU.

In attendance were famous ice skaters, hockey players, well known celebrities such as Donald Trump and the entire Cast of Law & Order: SVU. However, the most important stars present were the beautiful and talented girls who participate in the FSH programming.  That evening they performed to Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

Guest blogger, Luisa Schumacher, Executive Director of West Michigan Center for Arts & Technology, provides us with an account of her experience in New York City…

To say that traveling to New York City to experience a world-class figure skating performance by the girls of Figure Skating Harlem with Candace Matthews and a team from Amway was an once-in-a-lifetime experience, would be an understatement.

As executive director of the West Michigan Center for Arts & Technology (WMCAT), an organization that is supported by the Amway One by One Campaign for Children and Candace Matthews (Amway CMO and WMCAT board member), I joined the trip for the opportunity to learn more about a similar program we have to the nonprofit organization, Figure Skating In Harlem, located in New York. In addition to learning about the after-school program that helps girls from age 5 – 18 through figure skating, we were able to see the students perform at Wollman Rink in Central Park at a star-studded gala.  Needless to say, the event was spectacular and the girls were a treasure.

It is not often that a West Michigan not-for-profit organization can learn about the great things happening with similar groups across the country up-close and personal. I am so grateful to our friends at Amway for providing me with the opportunity to see a successful organization in action in such a unique way.