Industry News

Industry with Heart: BeautiControl
by Martha Belden

BeautiControl consultants participate in that annual WHO Walk to raise funds for the foundation.

BeautiControl prides itself on offering women the opportunity to realize their full potential; it helps women create a fulfilling career and the life they love. The WHO Foundation strives to make a powerful impact by supporting organizations dedicated to women and children in need. Their relationship during the past 14 years has proven rewarding for both organizations.

"The WHO Foundation is about giving back to our communities to support the overlooked needs of women and children," Jo-Anne Jaeger says. Jo-Anne is Chairman of the Board of the WHO Foundation and Senior Vice President, Marketing and International, for BeautiControl Inc. "We support grassroots organizations that the government, large funding organizations and others do not. Our goal is to make someone's today a little better than yesterday."

The History

For more than a decade, the WHO Foundation has been effecting real change in communities around the country and improving the lives of women and children experiencing hardship. WHO was established in 1993 with the hope that women would put their unique talents and abilities to use in their communities. The Foundation was built on the philosophy that women working together have the power to make a positive difference in the lives of others.

Since its inception, the WHO Foundation has granted close to $3 million to 295 nonprofit organizations, supporting a range of worthwhile causes including the prevention of homelessness through teaching life skills, educating teens at risk of pregnancy, supporting literacy needs of at-risk youth, dental care for abused women, eye care for the uninsured, addressing domestic violence and the health care issues of disadvantaged women and children.

"We are most proud of the number of organizations we've been able to help," says WHO Foundation Executive Director Cindy Turek. "The monies we have granted have increased tremendously. We are accomplishing more as our presence becomes more known. People are giving more, and we are receiving more grant applications from across the country."

More than 300,000 lives have been touched through the grants and education efforts of WHO, including:

• More than 24,000 uninsured women and children have received medical and eye care treatment.
• More than 25,000 preschool through high school aged children throughout the United States will be given their first book to own in an effort to establish and sustain literacy and enhance their desire to read.
• More than 30,000 girls have been educated about the risks and prevention of adolescent pregnancy.

For additional statistics, please see sidebar: "WHO Is Touching Lives."

How the WHO Foundation Helps

The WHO Foundation provides funds and grassroots support to charities serving the often-overlooked needs of women and children. Charities qualifying for grants from the WHO Foundation have a passion for caring for the neglected while seeking nothing in return but the satisfaction of making a difference. "The Foundation gives back to the communities in which BeautiControl independent consultants live," Cindy says.

Helping Those in Need

One of the greatest needs of women in poverty is providing nourishment for their infants. Too often, desperate mothers turn to unhealthy substitutes to satisfy their babies' hunger and quiet their cries for food. But a child's proper growth and development depend upon the quality and quantity of nutrition during their first two years, and the most rapid growth occurs in the first year. Consequently, WHO has donated thousands of dollars to organizations like LIFE (Local Infant Formula for Emergencies) in Houston. LIFE's mission is to offer relief to families with infants by providing emergency supplies including formula, baby food and other essentials during times of crisis.

WHO also supports after-school programs that provide an alternative for the at-risk child who is home alone after school each day. These children face enormous challenges every day, including drugs, poverty, youth violence and the lack of positive role models. One such program is the Dallas Community Lighthouse's (DCL) Kid's Campus project. The WHO Foundation granted $15,000 for supplies, computer education, study materials and daily operational costs to DCL's project.

The people-centric WHO Foundation also helps fight addiction. The Family Recovery Center in San Diego is a residential treatment facility for women recovering from substance abuse. It lacked the resources to provide health care or even over-the-counter medicine for the women and children seeking assistance. When a BeautiControl independent director, who is also a center volunteer, applied for a WHO Foundation grant, the center was given $20,000 to provide health care for women and children.

The giving continues. At the beginning of 2006, the Foundation awarded more than $235,000 in grants to 17 deserving charities across the nation. The funds support causes addressing youth illiteracy; provide eye care and corrective lenses to low-income, visually impaired, uninsured children; supply qualified forensic nursing services to sexual assault and domestic violence victims; and help low-income women move from poverty to economic self-sufficiency with life, job and computer training.

In the Face of Disaster

In 2005, the WHO Foundation contributed more than $200,000 to various disaster relief groups. WHO raised more than $45,000 for World Vision International for food, water and shelter in tsunami-ravaged Indonesia, and BeautiControl matched that amount. WHO Foundation and Tupperware Children's Foundation (BeautiControl's parent company) funding contributed to school reconstruction throughout the affected areas.

When two of the costliest hurricanes in history devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast, BeautiControl independent consultants, corporate associates and friends of WHO joined forces to assemble personal care kits, which were distributed to shelters along the coast. Clothes, toys, water, emergency supplies and enough diapers, formula and bottles for three days for more than 1,000 babies were also provided as part of the effort. Through the dedication of the BeautiControl salesforce, the WHO Foundation raised more than $123,000 for rebuilding efforts in several states, which BeautiControl again matched with monetary and in-kind contributions.

The WHO Foundation also recognizes the continuing needs of those still suffering the hurricanes' devastation and recently gave another $72,000 to help those affected. "The generosity of our supporters is overwhelming," Cindy says. "It is because of them that we are able to touch so many lives."

Community Education

Another WHO Foundation effort is creating and distributing educational literature teaching women about critical health issues.

The Foundation's Women Helping Others brochure is enlightening, encouraging and empowering. It presents ideas and inspiration for caring for oneself in the face of cancer diagnosis, treatment and recovery. This interactive guide features tips for building a support team, special skin care and beauty hints, tips for reducing cancer risk and a list of helpful resources.

The brochure is free to cancer patients and cancer-related organizations across the United States. It's made possible through the support of BeautiControl, its consultants and corporate associates and friends of WHO.

Rewarding Community Service

"One of the most rewarding parts of WHO is the support received from the BeautiControl independent directors and consultants through their generous donations," Cindy says. "They have confidence that the funds they entrust to the Foundation will be used to help change the lives of women and children." Grants are given to organizations in the consultants' communities through annual WHO Community Service Awards. Consultants who volunteer with a charity and meet WHO Foundation criteria may apply for a grant to support their charity's needs. When the Community Service Awards are made, the consultant receives a commemorative award honoring her volunteerism and a donation benefiting her charity. In the past two years, WHO has awarded $348,000 to 16 charities that support everything from educational programs and health care for the poor to family violence programs and programs for child survivors of brain-related disorders.

BeautiControl and the WHO Foundation are about women helping others and the 120,000 BeautiControl consultants working in their communities to effect change. BeautiControl independent directors and consultants, and all the other friends of the WHO Foundation, are making a difference in the lives of women and children in crisis, and they couldn't be more excited about the good they know will spring from their dedication.

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