∞
Alex weighed less than
two pounds at birth.
NICOLESCHMIDT
Teaching
thefishermen
WHEN FACED WITH the career question of whether they wanted to
feed fish to people or teach people how to catch them, Costco members
Kathleen Brennan and her husband, Jerry Cianciolo, chose the latter.
In 1986, the two Costco members left their jobs working for
nonprofit organizations and launched Contributions. It”s a quarterly
magazinefornonprofitorganizationsthattodaygoesoutto50,000
subscribersacrossthecountry.Thatledtopublishinghow-tobooksfor
staffandboardmembersofnonprofitsonalltopics,frommarketingto
mobilizing volunteers.
Their business, Emerson & Church Publishers (www.emersonand
church.com), in Medfield, Massachusetts, has published 23 books. The
most popular is Fund Raising Realities Every Board Member Must Face,
byDavidLansdowne,whichhassold100,000copies.
“Ireallyfeelwe”’vemadeadifferencebecause,insteadofworking
for just one cause, I feel like we”ve had an impact on thousands of
causesandhundredsof thousandsofvolunteers,”Brennansays.“That”s
what motivates us to keep going.”—Tim Talevich
Alex Kehm
LAST YEAR, when
Alex Kehm, son of
longtime Costco
members Dennis and
Bonnie Kehm,
learned that the U.S.
DENNIS KEHM
Soccer Foundation
collects used soccer
gear to donate to
underprivileged children around the
world, Kehm, who
was 13 at the time,
says “I knew it would
be a great idea to
recycle my items
instead of throwing
them away.”
When he called
the Passback program, Alex found there wasn’t a chapter in
the St. Louis area. So he established one, Fenton Passback
( http://fentonpassback.com).
Alex’s original goal was to collect 30 pieces of equipment. To date Fenton Passback has collected more than
1,650 pieces of soccer gear. For his efforts, Alex has received
the President of the United States Volunteer Service Award
and several other accolades. “Through Fenton Passback, I
learned that anything is possible,” Alex says. “I learned to
reach beyond myself to the lives of those in need, bringing
hope, friendship and opportunity.”—Will Fifield
GOING
gFoORaA l
Cookiesmade withlove
IN 2004 THINGS looked grim for
the Stachler family. Dad Ken
anddaughter Susan underwent
back-to-back chemo for non-
Hodgkin”s lymphoma and
Hodgkin”s disease, respectively.
Mother Laura was
dis-traughtuntil she learnedthat
ginger helps cancer patients
fightnausea. Havinggrownup
in therestaurant industry, baking was something she knew
and could do for her loved ones. Susan and Laura Stachler
Enter Susansnaps (www.
susansnaps.com), a gourmet cookie company co-owned by Laura
and Susan, and named after Laura”s sister Susan Carver Smith,
who succumbed to Hodgkin”s at age 28.
SUSAN STACHLER
“What was once just a small idea has now turned into a
thriving company, and itstarted with some flour, sugar, eggs, and
spices from the Perimeter [Georgia] Costco,” says Susan, who
handles marketing andpackagingand, likeher dad, is doing OK.
The Atlanta-based company produces up to 10,000 of the
chewy/crunchy cookies a day. A portion of sales goes to the
nonprofit Susan Carver Foundation, which Laura established tosup-port cancer research and cancer patients. “I”ve always wanted to
give back, but never did I think I would be raising money for a
cause I benefit from,” says Susan.—Shana McNally
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