Paul Newman

We may have lost Paul Newman earlier this year, but his influence is still strongly felt in Hollywood. Celebrities including Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks, Joaquin Phoenix, Bruce Willis, Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Sean Penn, Billy Crystal, and others joined together to honor Newman and raise money for The Painted Turtle.

The Painted Turtle is one of Newman’s Hole in the Wall Camps, helping children with life-threatening illnesses enjoy a real camp experience, where they can forget about their disease for a while and just focus on being a kid in a safe environment. Not only do the experiences at The Painted Turtle let kids try things they might not have a chance to elsewhere, but it inspires them to have more confidence and be self-reliant, and more cooperative with their medical caregivers, all of which helps in the healing process.

The celebrities mentioned above were just a few of the attendees — more than 2500 people showed up to show their support and empty their pockets for this worthy cause. I imagine Paul Newman and his charities will continue to have a huge impact for many years to come.

Photo courtesy of celebritywonder.com

I normally try to keep things pretty light and happy here, but this sad news deserves to be noted. One of the greatest philanthropists of our time, Paul Newman, passed away this weekend at the age of 83 after battling lung cancer.

While Newman always wanted the world to be a better place, one of the things that helped him make it so started off as a bit of a joke in his basement — Newman’s Own. It quickly became, as written in a statement issued by the Newman’s Own Foundation, a “highly respected, multi-million dollar a year food company.” Rather than profiting personally, Newman donated all profits and royalties to thousands of charities around the world, totalling over $250 million.

The Foundation’s statement went on to say, “Paul took advantage of what life offered him, and while personally reluctant to acknowledge that he was doing anything special, he forever changed the lives of many with his generosity, humor, and humaneness. His legacy lives on in the charities he supported and the Hole in the Wall Camps, for which he cared so much.”

The statement also offered a quote from Newman’s own lips, that I think is a beautiful way to sum up the way this great man, who we’ll all miss so much, viewed the world and his own circumstances: “I wanted to acknowledge luck; the chance and benevolence of it in my life, the brutality of it in the lives of others, who might not be allowed the good fortune of a lifetime to correct it.”

I encourage you to do something for a cause you believe in today, in honor of Paul Newman. I will.

Photo courtesy of GreenDaily.com

Paul Newman is an amazing example of kindness and generosity. Between the years of 2005 and 2006, Paul privately turned over the full value of his Newman’s Own ownership to the Newman’s Own Foundation. The value of the donation is estimated to be around $120 million. Seriously.

This is true to form for the actor/director/activist, who reportedly gave away $8,746,500 of his personal fortune to charitable groups supporting children, Gulf Coast hurricane relief, education, and the arts. All of this is done quietly, as far under the radar as possible. Some of the organizations he contributes to are well known, but many are small, worthy organizations that aren’t well publicized.

Paul is currently in the news for some far less happy news, however — he is fighting lung cancer. However, just to be clear, his massive donation did not occur as a result of his diagnosis — he made the decision to turn his ownership value over to the Newman’s Own Foundation to celebrate his 80th birthday, before he was diagnosed with cancer. He issued a statement just today regarding his health, saying that he’s “doing nicely” by way of his mouthpiece.

Along with the rest of the world, I wish him all the best in his fight against cancer, and continue to be amazed by his generosity.

Photo courtesy of reuters.com