RED is coming! no. 4

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I found some new items at GAP--an indigo blue shirt( to wear with a silver skirt I got there too.) At the store in Memphis--they had a beaded bracelet-very cool--but I had just spent $20 on the ID bracelet so I didn't get.
 
JC, what sort of Spring and Summer items are coming out? Do you think they will have shorts, tube tops, bikini's that sort of thing?:hmm: Could be hot ;)
 
I have a request to make of any of you that buy (RED). :wink:

I am writing an article to counter all the negative press that has been out lately regarding (RED).


The perspective is from the point of view of the consumer/buyer and of why I support (RED).



What I would like to do is to include snippets of others who buy and support (RED) in the article.

So if any of you would like to possibly have your viewpoint included in this article, then I would ask you to send me your entries on why you support (RED) in about 150-200 words.


You can either post it here or email your entry to me at iris_lotus_blossom@hotmail.com.


This is a serious request and I have already found a publisher for the article but I would like to include as many of your comments in it as possible.


Thanks for your time. :bonodrum: :hi5:
 
That’s really cool Jamila; will you post the article here when you are finished with it?
 
Sound like a great idea Jamila.

I'll post it here:

I'm a registered nurse, and I work on a med/surg unit that specializes in HIV/AIDS.

I've seen a 60-year-old grandmother, in a monogamous relationship, whose husband cheated on her and passed the virus onto her.

I've seen gay men, straight men, former health care workers who were stuck with needles, rape victims, teenagers who were born with the virus, drug addicts, even accident victims who had a contaminated blood transfusion pre-1985.

One patient that really touched me was Stephen, a former NYC cop, faithfully married, whose first wife had the virus from a previous marriage. When Stephen learned he was infected, he became an activist, traveling to middle schools and high schools around the New York Area teaching young people about AIDS, and the reality of living with the virus. He died shortly before Thanksgiving last year, and he was every nurse's favorite patient--the nicest, most patient guy you'd ever meet in your life.

This virus affects EVERYONE! Everyone in the world is affected.

So that's why I support Product (RED). I know I've been talking about American patients instead of African, but a human being is a human being.
 
Jamila said:
I have a request to make of any of you that buy (RED). :wink:

I am writing an article to counter all the negative press that has been out lately regarding (RED).


The perspective is from the point of view of the consumer/buyer and of why I support (RED).



What I would like to do is to include snippets of others who buy and support (RED) in the article.

So if any of you would like to possibly have your viewpoint included in this article, then I would ask you to send me your entries on why you support (RED) in about 150-200 words.


You can either post it here or email your entry to me at iris_lotus_blossom@hotmail.com.


This is a serious request and I have already found a publisher for the article but I would like to include as many of your comments in it as possible.


Thanks for your time. :bonodrum: :hi5:
Click to expand...


I will definately do this tomorrow when I have some time to think of what to write for you! :wink:
 
pattip2000 said:
That’s really cool Jamila; will you post the article here when you are finished with it?
Click to expand...


I'm sure once it comes out, it will find its way here - whether I would post it or someone else. :wink:


I won't say much more about this except I approached someone I know about this idea and they thought it was a GREAT idea and asked me to come up with a piece that they could use in defense of (RED) after all the unfounded criticism that (RED) has gotten in the last few weeks in the media.


The important thing is that I have a deadline of next weekend to submit my article so I would need "testimonials" asap.



My private email is iris_lotus_blossom@hotmail.com if someone would like to contact me offline about this.


Once y'all see who this piece is written for, I think that you'll understand my privacy concerns right now for them. :sexywink:



Let's all come together as ONE on this venture and really show our support for (RED).



Thank you all for your support of this venture. :love:
 
love2bmama said:
Jamila, I'm trying to write a little something for you but I'm at work and keep getting interrupted, so I'll put it together and email you when I get home tonight.
Click to expand...


Molly, that would be wonderful. :hi5:


Here is the latest interview with Bobby Shriver regarding (RED):


http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2007/mar/04/lending_hand_without_handout/?city_local


Lending a hand without a handout
By Steve Vockrodt

Sunday, March 4, 2007

(Bobby Shriver, Product (RED) co-founder and John F. Kennedy’s nephew, signs a book for Colleen Pesci Saturday at Gap, 643 Mass. The book is a (RED) Gap product. Product (RED) seeks to raise money for charitable causes by diverting a portion of the price of certain items.)




Bobby Shriver says repeatedly he can’t stand asking people for money.

“Asking your friends for money is such a drag,” Shriver said Saturday morning, seated in The Jayhawker bar at the Eldridge Hotel, 701 Mass.


So Shriver’s not asking people for money. But if people are going to spend money, Shriver hopes they spend it a certain way.

Shriver, who’s John F. Kennedy’s nephew, co-founded Product (RED), a business model linked with several large corporations to send a portion of profits to the Global Fund.

The other co-founder is Bono, the lead singer of U2.



Product (RED) shows up in several places in Lawrence: in the storefront of Gap, on Motorola cell phones, on Apple iPods.

A portion of profits made on merchandise bearing the Product (RED) logo — the word red in parentheses — goes toward helping pay for medication for AIDS patients in Africa.



Product (RED) doesn’t call itself a charity. It operates on the idea that if consumers will buy something they need or want, they should have the choice to buy a product that will send a cut of the total price to a humanitarian cause.

“They’re going to buy a cell phone anyway,” Shriver said. “Why not buy a (RED) cell phone?”



Shriver himself is an embodiment of his own project: On Saturday morning, he talks on his (RED) cell phone, wears a (RED) hooded sweatshirt, a pair of (RED) shoes and a (RED) scarf from Gap around his neck.

However much he paid for that scarf, 50 percent of the profit Gap made from it — and all other Gap merchandise with the Product (RED) logo sold — was set to go to the Global Fund.



Since launching in the United States last year, Product (RED) has sent $11 million to the Global Fund.

Shriver says the Product (RED) model is different because he expects it will continue to make money for the Global Fund, rather than asking for money from corporations on a case-by-case basis.



Seated across from Shriver is Mark Booth, a member of the Booth family whose donation helped build the Kansas University Athletics Hall of Fame.

He’s sold on the Product (RED) idea.

“I have a sense of contribution rather than a sense of consumption,” Booth said.



Booth and Shriver became friends through a mutual involvement in the Special Olympics.

It was Shriver’s involvement in the Special Olympics that got him linked to Bono.

In 1987, Shriver produced the first “A Very Special Christmas” album, a compilation of mainstream bands and artists performing renditions of holiday songs that included U2. Proceeds from sales of those albums went to the Special Olympics.

“We sold a bazillion copies,” Shriver said. “It was unbelievable. That was back when people bought records.”



From there, Shriver and Bono became friends and partners in several projects.

One of those was the Jubilee 2000 Coalition, a movement for the forgiveness of debt for underdeveloped countries.

Once many of those debts were forgiven, Shriver and Bono realized that health care problems in Africa were going to lead countries there back into steep debt.

“With all the money we saved in debt relief, it was going to be eaten up by health care,” Shriver said.



That was one of the early developments of the Product (RED) idea.

But Shriver said he couldn’t rely on governments alone to raise money for health care in Africa.



“We thought, you know, what we’ve got to figure out is a way to get money from the private sector in on this thing,” Shriver said. “And we hate asking people for money.”

They got part of their idea for the Product (RED) model from Robert Rubin, the secretary of the Treasury for Bill Clinton.

“He said, ‘You guys got to be like Nike,’” Shriver said. “You’ve got to market yourselves like Nike.”



Thus, the color red and its simple logo became Product (RED)’s Nike swoosh, a simple and marketable icon that could be tied to merchandise and products offered by major corporations.

Shriver said the first companies he and Bono approached were reluctant about the idea.

“Companies are nervous (that) people are going to think you’re going to make money off AIDS in Africa,” Shriver said.



So far, Product (RED) has gotten a handful of companies to sign on to the business model.

Shriver was in Lawrence Saturday to attend the Kansas University basketball game and then head out to Kansas City to try to sell other corporations on the Product (RED) idea.



He believes if the Product (RED) concept circulates to enough consumers, then other companies will accept the model.

“The big idea is if enough companies come to believe there are a lot of people like that, they’re going to think, ‘Uh-oh, we better market this stuff and make it (RED).’”

----------------------------------------------------------------------


BE PROUD, BE STRONG, BE (RED)! :love:
 
Babydoll said:
Thanks for the article, Jamila!
Click to expand...


You're very welcomed, Babydoll. :)


Thank you VERY MUCH, JCOSTER and Val for your responses - they were very honest and eloquent.


What the article will be is a response to the public media WHY WE BUY (RED).

Afterall, it is our money which is going to the Global Fund because of (RED) so why shouldn't the media HEAR FROM US!


Maybe that will temper their criticism of what is a perfectly good business model on how to involve the private sector into social justice issues (i.e., social entrepreneurship).


I'll keep y'all updated and I will still gladly receive your testimomials. :bonodrum:
 
This is the best idea to counter all that negative press that (RED) has had recently. I will definitly send you a letter . I'm a huge supporter of Product (RED) . All my friends are too.
The media is so fast to condemn, they always play up the negative. Now they will hear from us, thanks to you!
 
jaynejenjune said:
This is the best idea to counter all that negative press that (RED) has had recently. I will definitly send you a letter . I'm a huge supporter of Product (RED) . All my friends are too.
The media is so fast to condemn, they always play up the negative. Now they will hear from us, thanks to you!
Click to expand...


Thank you jaynejenjune for capturing the EXACT reason WHY the article NEEDS to be written.

I mean, if the people who are supporting (RED) with their purchases don't have problems with the initiative, why should people who don't BUY (RED) worry about it?


What are they losing? Or is this just another veiled personal attack by the media on Bono? :tsk:

And if that is what is going on, then attack Bono personally so he can defend himself if he chooses but don't take money out of this program by sullying the reputation of (RED) so gullible people may not want to buy it!



The only people that will really end up suffering are the people in Africa who so desparately need their ARV's to continue to life and children who have been orphaned by AIDS who will not receive the care that they need. :eyebrow:

That is unconscienable to me and that is why I want us - the consumers - to speak out on this matter.


And thanks so much, my friend, I have received your testimonial for (RED). EXCELLENT! :wink:
 
(RED) scarf-bacause philly is freezing!!!
IMG_1635.jpg

bono dress up day--lol
 
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