Do Good Cleveland: Doing Good Is What We Do
We have a history of doing good, but this year so many across Northeast Ohio stepped up in big and small ways.
Thankfully, we’ve got the Swain family.
Throughout the year, the Akron-based family of seven has been pouring a steady stream of the sweet stuff via their stand, 4 Bros & A Sis Lemonade. Though the lemonade stand has been a staple in the city’s Ellet neighborhood for years, the siblings turned it into a beacon of light during the pandemic by offering free lemonade to frontline and essential workers — including mayor Dan Horrigan (who prefers their pineapple peach mango flavor).
And, according to mom Brenda Knowles-Swain, the budding entrepreneurs got back as much as they gave. “They were out there four days a week this summer, because it was a way to speak to people and be part of the world again,” says Knowles-Swain.
For Cleveland and Northeast Ohio, that potent blend of human connection and caring is what has personified a history of doing good. The first-ever community foundation was founded here, and in a 2019 Fidelity Charitable ranking, Cleveland placed in the top 10 in four of eight giving sectors (including human services, where it took the top spot).
This year and its challenges have been no exception. The Greater Cleveland Food Bank sprang into action by providing nearly 20.7 million pounds of food to people in need between March and July, and Cleveland Whiskey started making hand sanitizer.
As calls for racial and social justice reached a boiling point this spring and summer, Cleveland continued to band together to support its own. The Real Black Friday circulated directories of Black-owned businesses, and Random Acts of Kindness Everywhere founder Ricky Smith teamed up with Graffiti HeArt’s Stamy Paul to paint a Black Lives Matter mural on East 93rd Street.
“I felt it was my responsibility as a Clevelander,” says Smith, “to not only be the change I want to see in the world, but also here in my city.”
The list of philanthropic efforts is a long one, but at the top may be the Cleveland Foundation’s Rapid Response Fund. Since March, the more than 100-year-old foundation has granted more than $8.6 million to approximately 160 nonprofits including MedWish International.
“The only words anyone spoke those first few weeks were, ‘Flatten the curve,’ so that was our fund’s main goal,” says Dale Anglin, the Cleveland Foundation’s program director of youth, health and human services. “We thought after a few weeks that we could move off food, basic needs and personal protective equipment, but the nature of the pandemic was so extensive that we couldn’t leave those categories.”
In September, the foundation also started the Black Futures Fund, $2.5 million to invest in Black-led and Black-serving social organizations.
Other local organizations are also doing their best. This spring, Geon Performance Solutions and Power of More (a consortium of nine chambers of commerce in southwestern Cuyahoga County and western Lorain County) teamed up to distribute 60,000 face shields to eight hospitals, as well as medical facilities, schools and other local businesses.
“One of the hospital presidents told us that when COVID-19 first hit, it [came] so hard so fast that they were afraid they would run out of PPE,” says Power of More president Mark Boepple. “They had to take inventory every four hours to make sure they wouldn’t run out.”
These present-day giving efforts stand on the shoulders of a long history of local philanthropy, led by early giants such as John D. Rockefeller and Jeptha Wade. And their legacy can continue to pave the way as Cleveland navigates its next chapter.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” says Boepple, “but it’s great to see our communities all rowing the boat in the same direction.”
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