Throughout her life, Sharon Bush has devoted herself to charity. While teaching inner-city children early in her career, her eyes were opened to the problems they face. Sharon has since worked to address homelessness, hunger among children in Africa, and violence against women across the world.
Family Philanthropy
The great acts of charity done by Sharon’s children reflect how deeply she instilled the value of charity in them. Watching her mother work on many causes inspired her daughter, Lauren Bush Lauren, to engage in philanthropy as well. According to Forbes, Lauren launched the FEED Foundation, an organization which sells high-end, environmentally friendly bags to raise funds to feed hungry children in Africa.
In addition to Lauren, her son Pierce is the CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters in Texas, and her daughter Ashley tutors abused women seeking their GED.
Sharon organized Teddy Shares, an organization which makes teddy bears for children and works with the FEED Foundation to sell a line of bears to benefit children. According to Times Square Gossip, the proceeds from the company’s sale of bears go to help malnourished children in Africa. Depending on the bear, the proceeds from a single toy bear can feed three or five children.
The charities directly fund the United Nations’ World Food Program (WFP). This program has been working to feed children in Tanzania through an organization called Industrial Revelations. Industrial Revelations gives children a 500-calorie, protein-rich peanut paste called Plumpy’Nut. Plumpy’Nut is easy to distribute because it does need to be refrigerated or mixed with water. According to Sharon Bush’s biography, Teddy Shares also works with Edesia and the Teddy Roosevelt Foundation to combat malnutrition across the world.
Work on Child Homelessness
According to the Emerald City Journal, Sharon began her charitable work by launching the Karitas Foundation. The Karitas Foundation sells toys and children’s clothing. The proceeds go to children’s relief organizations that help homeless and abused children in the United States. Through Sharon’s efforts, children have been given a chance to thrive that they otherwise would not have.
Her work has brought light to this problem of neglect, a problem which leaves countless children vulnerable. The money raised by the Karitas Foundation has fed and housed thousands of children.
Helping Women Abroad
In addition to the Karitas Foundation, Sharon sits on the board of the UN Women for Peace Association (UNWFPA), a charity founded to stop violence against women. The money this organization raises goes toward the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, which focuses its efforts in developing countries. Established in 1996, the UN Trust Fund has expanded access to social services and education for women and has benefited more than 3 million people.
Sharon has held many fundraisers for the UNWFPA and was active in a recent fundraiser which raised $1.5 million, according to the Huffington Post.
Through the many charities Sharon has been involved with, people across the world benefit from her activism and advocacy.
