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2006: Year in Review
Company Spotlight: The Longaberger Company
Industry with Heart: CyberWize
Young Company Focus: 5LINX

Industry with Heart: CyberWize
by Karyn Reagan

CyberWize CEO & President Mark McCool and Executive Vice President Jeanine McCool announce the 2006 launch of the company’s charitable efforts to support needy children through World Vision.

What possible connection could Sima in Bangladesh, Elizeu in Brazil, and Zibusiso in Zimbabwe-three 5-year-old children on three different continents-have with a cataclysmic event in Siberia nearly 100 years ago? All three benefit from the generosity of CyberWize Cares, the charitable arm of Sarasota, Fla.-based network marketing company CyberWize. Through sales of its flagship product, Tunguska Blast, whose health- and immune-boosting properties are derived from plants grown in the Tunguska River Valley in Russia, CyberWize directly supports more than 500 needy children in 21 countries worldwide, and that number is growing.

All these children lived in hopeless conditions, not knowing where their next meal would come from and probably never giving thought to what they might be when they grow up. They simply hoped to make it to tomorrow. When CyberWize Co-Founders Mark and Jeanine McCool heard about the plight of these children, they committed to help as many as they could through an organization called World Vision.

With all the need there is in the world, it can be challenging to choose which charity or organization to support. Mark and Jeanine were faced with that decision when they founded their company in April 1998. They knew they wanted to become involved in philanthropy. "The word philanthropy comes from Greek words meaning love for mankind," says Jeanine, who also serves as Executive Vice President at CyberWize. "Mark and I have a strong passion within us to give love back to mankind. It's almost like the 'pay it forward' mentality we're putting into practice. We have been tremendously blessed with what we have-with our business and with great health. Having this growing and prosperous company makes us want to help others. That's just a huge passion that we have."

The McCools teamed up with CyberWize leaders in the Bahamas to support the All Saints Camp, a residential community for those living with HIV/AIDS.

The McCools chose World Vision to be a primary focus of CyberWize Cares. World Vision is a Christian relief and development organization dedicated to helping children and their communities reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty worldwide. One of the main ways to support World Vision is to sponsor a specific child. "World Vision really touched our hearts, because we found out that the money that is given to the organization goes right to the field, which is the children," Jeanine says. "We also see a face. We have a picture and can see where the money is going-to a specific child.

"Children in poverty-stricken countries don't get to choose where they are born," Jeanine says. "Some of the more fortunate are blessed to be in an orphanage World Vision has set up for them. Through funding provided by CyberWize, these children can look forward to one day growing up to be whatever they dream of being. It is deeply gratifying to receive a letter from a child who may have otherwise had no hope for tomorrow and read about how he or she wants to be a teacher or a nurse when they grow up."

CyberWize makes it easy for their independent business owners (IBOs) to participate in this philanthropic endeavor. When CyberWize's leadership developed Tunguska Blast, they decided the product would not only support people's immune systems and overall health; it would also improve the lives of children. They determined to give a percentage of the profits from the sale of the product directly to World Vision. Every time an IBO purchases or sells a bottle of Tunguska Blast, they are helping specific children around the world with the basic necessities in life. CyberWize CEO Mark McCool says the more than 500 kids currently being supported are just a start. "Our goal," he says, "is to help tens of thousands of children by helping cover the costs for food, shelter and medical care."

Children in the United States have benefited as well, albeit in a different way, from CyberWize's participation with World Vision. One CyberWize IBO, who is also a schoolteacher, attended a CyberWize convention and learned about the work with World Vision. She asked if she could take pictures of some of the specific children being helped back to her classroom in Texas. She shared the pictures with her students and told them what CyberWize is doing to help the children. She then asked her students to become pen pals with the children.

The response has been amazing. The students have received many letters in return and have considered it such a rewarding experience. They have learned firsthand how to make a difference in someone's life with even the smallest of gestures.

In addition to World Vision, CyberWize Cares has supported Growing Hope Charities for people with autism and developmental disabilities, the All Saints Camp for AIDS patients in the Bahamas, and the Roaton Orphanage in Honduras. In September 2005, CyberWize donated more than $1 million of its BioWize Botanicals personal care products to victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. For this generous contribution, CyberWize was presented with the Circle of Humanitarians award from the Southwest Florida Chapter of the American Red Cross.

The McCools and CyberWize's thousands of IBOs have large hearts and large goals for CyberWize Cares. "We want to take over an entire town or village and be the one company that provides funds for that entire village. It's going to be very significant when we kick that off," Jeanine says. "We have a solid philanthropic focus in our company, starting with the CEO all the way down to our distributors and our staff. We know that when you're doing it right at the top, there is nothing but success all the way down. Mark and I have been so blessed to take a part of our proceeds and share it with those who need it. We're just so thankful for what we're able to do, because we believe that it does come back around. It's so rewarding, and that's what we're teaching other people to do."