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Funder Focus: Jacqui Cohen and the Face the World Foundation
April 3, 2006
By Elisa Birnbaum
This month in our Funder Focus we feature the Face the World Foundation, which was established in 1991 to help less fortunate members of the Vancouver community through innovative and entertaining fundraising events. CharityVillage spoke with president Jacqui Cohen about the issues facing Vancouver's downtown eastside, how the foundation is working to address those needs, and their many achievements.
CharityVillage: What was your impetus to start the foundation?
Jacqui Cohen: I was living in LA and went to an event called Share in 1990, whose idea it was to share the money they raised. I was inspired and that's how it all started. I realized that I was lucky, very blessed, and that I could do something like that event in Vancouver, which was always my home even though I lived in LA and Chicago at the time. So I decided to have an event, a party, and to raise some money and share it among the needy organizations in our own backyard.
CV: Are events the main source of funding for the foundation?
JC: Yes. The idea is that through the events we raise money and disperse it among different organizations. The key is keeping it local; the money stays in the Lower Mainland area. We throw one main event, a gala, every year. It's held in my home, which also makes it unique, and that is really what I always saw from day one and that will never change. One of the things that's so great about the event is that the whole of Vancouver gets behind us to raise as much money as we can. And we have supplemented that gala with a Halloween party, which is a more affordable event. There's a lot of people in the city who want to be involved with Face the World - they like the concept and the causes - but not everybody can afford the price of the gala.
CV: How have the events evolved over the years?
JC: It started off as a very intimate dinner party at my house for 80 people in 1991. Since then, we've grown. We've alternated recently from it being a couple hundred people outside in a tent over my pool, to bringing it inside with 120 people and raising the price. I don't want people to ever think they know exactly what they're getting; I don't want it to ever be, "Oh god I have to go to that thing again." That's definitely what I strive for.
CV: You raise a lot of money for organizations in the downtown eastside of Vancouver. Was that a conscious decision on your part?
JC: We were never specifically targeting the downtown eastside. But it just so happens that my office and my world are down here. The original goal has been to support four main groups: the abused women, battered children, the hungry, and the homeless. Obviously, all four are prevalent in the downtown eastside.
CV: Have the foundation's goals remained the same since 1991?
JC: We have branched out and added AIDS to the list, but the core goals have remained the same. We are such a hands-on, small organization. One of the things that we are most proud of is if we got a phone call today from a shelter, we can react tomorrow. So many organizations are quite bureaucratic and there are a lot of levels that you have to go through. I mean, we do our due diligence, of course, before we write any cheques. But, for example, a good friend of ours, fellow board member, Vicki Gabereau called a while ago that there was a shelter about to close because they couldn't pay the rent and we were there the next day with their rent. So that's a nice feeling that you can react so quickly. And being hands-on and being small is very important to us.
CV: The foundation has a lot of celebrity involvement. How has that helped it achieve its mission?
JC: I have a very good friend named Tom Jones who was coming to town back in 1991. I said to him, "I have this great idea, I'm going to start a charity, will you help me?" So it's like producing a movie. First you get him, then Umberto [Menghi], who owns Il Giardino, said he would cater it, and then others get involved and it falls into place. The celebrities do add glitz and glamour that make people want to go deep into their pockets, especially when they're visible. And I don't care if somebody comes because they love where the money goes or because they love a good party; I really don't care why they come as long as they keep coming.
CV: What criteria are most important in determining which applicants receive funding?
JC: The first thing we look at are the organization's financials, their overhead. That's a big issue to us. When we first started out, we thought, "let's have a building called Face the World Foundation and help people in this building." When we did our homework, we found out that there's no shortage of bricks and mortar; there's a shortage of staffing and counsellors, and the ability to keep the bricks and mortar open. So overhead is important.
We are very specific when we donate to some of the larger organizations about where the money goes. For example, with the Sick Children's hospital, instead of it going into a pot, we wanted the money to go toward the examination room for kids after they've been abused. But we assess the organizations case by case; once they meet the criteria, we look at the more specific things.
And there are organizations that we are particularly proud of, that we will continue to fund, whether it's the Monroe House for abused women, or Aunt Leah's, which helps street kids get off the street. But our funding is never taken for granted. The biggest commitment we made was over a three-year period, a chair at St Paul's Hospital, $50,000 for three years. Generally, we do it one year at a time.
CV: On average, how many applications do you receive, how many do you approve, and how much do you give ever year?
JC: In our second year we received 20 or 30 applications; today it's approximately 200. And we approve of 20-30 each year. We can give as little as the $1,100, as we just did for Variety to take some kids to an Easter concert. But we usually give, on average, between $5,000 and $15,000.
CV: Have you established partnerships with other agencies or government?
JC: We have been known to piggyback with other foundations. For example, Peter Thomas has his own foundation and he called me yesterday because he's doing a project for the Girls and Boys Club and wants us to match his donation. So we each gave $12,500 and we sponsored a program. Other people like to do that with us because they know we're like the commandos on the street and so they say, "here's another $10,000 to put together towards that project." But we don't work with the government because we have to be able to make decisions quickly.
CV: Where do you see Face the World heading in the future?
JC: One thing that we did a couple of years ago is we started an endowment fund. After all, what happens if one year we don't have an event in the house? Plus, I want it to live on long after I'm gone. But as far as the money we raise in a year, I can't say I'm looking to grow from an average of $1.5 million to $3 million because you can't do it in a home. I like the fact that it's a little cottage industry and that we've changed so many lives. The day that it becomes too big, it's going to lose a lot of its charm and personality. If it continues this way for years to come, I would be happy.
CV: A lot of your life has revolved around Vancouver's downtown eastside so you know it well. With all the issues plaguing that part of the city, where do you see it heading?
JC: What's happening in this part of the city is that, because lofts are being built down the street that are $200,000 to $300,000, people are being moved further east a block at a time. But Vancouver's weather allows for people to come here and live homeless. It's part of the good news/bad news of living in Vancouver. Will it ever be cured? Will there ever not be crack addicts? It's sad to say, but it seems to be a fact of life.
Having said that, it is changing. It's getting there. And I think that there's a lot of awareness. Obviously it's not changing quickly, but now everybody is saying, "wow, you have great property." And with the Olympics coming, there's a huge push to clean it all up. I'm just so happy now to see families back in the area and to see that it's going back to how I remember it. I'm really excited about the future for the city and for Face the World. I'm just so blessed and fortunate to live here and to be able to make a difference. It feels really good.
Jacqui Cohen grew up in a retail environment and is the president and CEO of Army & Navy Department Stores. Started by her grandfather, it is the last privately owned department store chain in the country and about to celebrate its 87th year in business. Located in the downtown eastside, it seems only logical that her foundation largely supports organizations in that part of Vancouver as well. But with all her corporate experience, Jacqui says she doesn't use a computer, a Palm Pilot or other technological gadgets. And considering that the foundation's core strength lies in its people and its annual events, it should come as no surprise to hear Jacqui say, "the corporate world is not me, I'm street educated. My mouth is my asset." For more information about the foundation, visit: www.facetheworldfoundation.com.
Elisa Birnbaum is a freelance print and broadcast journalist living in Toronto.
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