Commentary I was three weeks late from the peak of the season, but many of the roses at Elizabeth Park in Hartford, Connecticut, were still in bloom when I visited. The experience provokes deep reflection on core issues such as how beauty, charity, and commitment are so crucial to the good society. In all my…

India Hicks, designer, humanitarian, and mother of five, has always lived a well-designed, globe-trotting life. At 55, her pace and focus has shifted, Hicks says, but life is all the sweeter for it. “I think growing up under the imposing eye of David Hicks, who was one of the world’s most dynamic designers, certainly of the…

When John and Betty Price thought about taking a vacation with a tour company, they decided to do some good while they enjoyed themselves. They searched the internet for firms that offer inviting excursions, value, and an opportunity to give back in various ways to the destinations they visited. Overseas Adventure Travel, part of the…

East of Philadelphia, over the Delaware River, lies a hamlet named Mount Holly. This New Jersey town is where Quakers first settled in the late 1600s. At one time, during the Revolutionary War, it became the state capital. And, in the late 1940s, Earl W. Stafford was born in this same tight-knit community—a community he…

Wyoming businessman Foster Friess was well-known for his innovative approach to philanthropy. He built a life that embodied the American Dream. He started his investment business with a few hundred dollars, made a fortune, and donated a large portion of it during his lifetime. He was fascinated by cowboys and the American West. When he…

“The trick of living is to slip on and off the planet with the least fuss you can muster. I’m not running for sainthood. I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer who puts back into the soil what he takes out.” —Paul Newman Highly respected…

“The whole trend of your mind seemed to be towards big things,” Andrew Carnegie’s childhood friend Tom David wrote him later in life. Carnegie rarely did anything small, especially once he amassed his fortune through steel. However, the captain of industry didn’t have grand or affluent roots. Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, on November…

For Jean Shafiroff, philanthropy is truly a lifestyle. Shafiroff has always had the heart to give—long before hosting her television show “Successful Philanthropy” and authoring a book of the same title, becoming a board member of several major charities, and giving to and chairing countless other charities. “It was the way I was raised, to…

One could say that philanthropy is good for the nation and good for the soul. In fact, philanthropy is a key component permeating the backbone of America’s success: American communities have benefited from private initiatives long after the benefactors have passed on. Such is the case with one of America’s most beloved innovators: Milton S….

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.—Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian on July 26 announced a $3 million gift from the Iacocca Family Foundation to expand a program for type 1 diabetes at the Mary and Dick Allen Diabetes Center. In appreciation of the gift, Hoag is naming the Mary and Lee Iacocca Program in Type 1 Diabetes to honor…