iCare Blog

Last month I attended the Equal Justice Initiative’s annual dinner. Justice John Paul Stevens, formerly of the U.S. Supreme Court, was the guest of honor. (Ipswitch supports EJI through our iCare program.) EJI is led by Bryan Stevenson. My college roommate introduced us in the 80′s when they were in law school together. I could see then that Bryan was a man with a mission – equal justice for all. He has devoted his life to fulfilling that promise from the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance. At EJI, with a small, hard-working team, he has figured out how to apply limited resources to maximum effect – through litigation – all the way up to the Supreme Court, through persuasion, and through teaching at law schools. By bringing attention to important issues and convincing the Supreme Court to rule in its favor, as EJI did last year in Graham v. Florida, they are having an important impact on our democracy and furthering Bryan’s goal of equal justice for all.

I went to New Bedford last week to attend the South Coast board meeting for Gifts to Give. What an uplifting experience. The board and full-time volunteers are all driven by a desire to make a difference in the lives of kids in the New Bedford area. And amazing thing is, they really are. The board chose to be active with Gifts to Give because they believe in its model and see it working. You walk into the mill where donations are sorted and packaged for pickup by social workers, and you immediately sense that something rare and important is happening there. For an idea, but just an idea, take a look at some of these photos. You really have to visit to get a true sense.

Jim Stevens, Gifts to Give’s president and founder, has figured out how to run a high-impact, low-cost non-profit. The key is that the actual labor of the volunteers is the core mission – to teach kids about community service, that it feels good to participate, and that the need is great. Jim had the vision and the energy to get Gifts to Give started in 2008. He has worked tirelessly to get Gifts to Give established, respected, and scaled up. The South Coast board is what is taking what Jim started and making it integral to New Bedford by spreading the word to New Bedford and surrounding communities and building local support. Thanks to the board, Gifts to Give’s roots are going deeper and getting stronger.