- Person
- Paul Newman
- Lived
- 1925–2008
- Field
- Philanthropy
- From
- American
The story
Paul Newman was one of the most admired film actors of the twentieth century. His father, Arthur Sigmund Newman, was the son of Jewish immigrants from Hungary and Poland, and Newman described himself as a Jew. Alongside his screen career he became one of the most generous givers in American public life, largely through a food business he set up for that purpose.
In 1982 Newman and his friend, the writer A. E. Hotchner, founded Newman's Own, starting with salad dressing. From the start Newman set an unusual rule: all of the company's profits, after taxes, would go to charity. Over the years the range grew to include pasta sauce, lemonade, popcorn, salsa and pizza, and the shoppers who bought them were, often without knowing it, funding good causes.
The money has gone to a wide range of charities, with a particular focus on children. When Newman died in 2008 he left the company to Newman's Own Foundation, so the profits would keep flowing after his death. The foundation owns the food company, and its grants are paid for by the profits and royalties from product sales. Its mission is to nourish and transform the lives of children who face adversity, and its priorities include nutrition education and school food, Indigenous food justice, and the SeriousFun Children's Network of camps for seriously ill children that Newman founded.
By the foundation's own count, it has given more than $600 million to good causes since 1982. Newman also used his fame to encourage others: he was one of the founders of the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy, a group devoted to persuading companies to give.
Newman's Own showed that an ordinary product on a supermarket shelf could become a steady engine for charity. Every jar and bottle sold still adds to grants for children in need, decades after a film star decided that the profits from his name should go to others rather than to himself.
Why it matters
Profits from Newman's Own still fund children's charities, including free camps for seriously ill children and better school food, with more than $600 million given so far.
About Paul Newman
Film star who gave away every dollar of profit from Newman’s Own, more than $600 million so far, and founded free camps for seriously ill children around the world.
More about Paul Newman
Sources
- Paul Newman Wikipedia
- About Us Newman's Own Foundation
Another act of tikkun olam. This is part of tikkun olam, the Jewish idea of repairing the world, and every one of us can add to it.