Just B Rant: BStrong

Published Oct 12, 2023, 4:00 AM

With chaos unfolding in Israel and around the world, Bethenny has once again activated the efforts of her BStrong Global Empowerment Mission.

Find out what they’re doing and how you can be involved.

I want to talk about be strong. My relief effort takes me a couple of hours to decide how we can activate and how we can help. We are at war. It has been very challenging in the sense that you say something and then you get attacked. Because I've been so vocal and involved an instrumental in relief work around the world for many years now. I started something and I keep getting deeper. We started and I couldn't get rain boots or flip flops. Literally, I was trying to get Havana's flip flops and Catherine mattresses, and I remember rain boots for Hurricane Harvey, which was my first relief effort, and people were turning me away. And I ended up doing a three hundred thousand dollars relief effort with money and in kind, which was very hard to get, but I scrounged it together. And that was when I realized that cash cards would be a great model overall, because people want the dignity and the freedom to buy what they want. So the money that we raised in many of our relief efforts have been for cash cards in certain scenarios. In most scenarios, there's a ground zero prior to cash cards. Like, the real destitute and desperation is when it's ground zero is what I call it, because you're not even at baseline. You're at basic human needs. You're at mothers have formula, Do they have band aids? Do they have wipes? Do they have toothbrushes? Do they have hydration packets? You know, we're not at kids backpacks and toys and chargers. We're not at construction materials, which comes later in the rebuild. It's really very much like you're starting to get to ground zero. So the cash cards aren't in places until they have electricity and water and things like that. So we've been all around the world, from Guatemala to Mexico to Puerto Rico, to the Bahamas to where my team is still in Maui, in Poland and Ukraine. I mean, it's really it's remarkable. And we've done over three hundred million dollars in relief worldwide. And we do not have pamphlets, we do not have rubber chicken dinner charity events, we don't hire singers, we don't have linens and flowers and any bells and any whistles, and literally money walks in the door. Now I used to beg. I used to beg, and now if I decide I'm activated, money comes in. And it could start with fifty thousand, with one hundred thousand on the first day, and then somebody big will come in. It could be Billy Joel, which it's been. It could be Matthew McConaughey, which it's been. It could be David and Nicole Tepper who owned the Carolina Panthers, which it's been. It could be billionaires, it could be you know, companies and different celebrities. And it's every time because people are passionate about different things. But lo and behold. If I get really activated and something is really important to you guys, and it's really a tragedy, like what's going on right now in Israel, someone will step forward and like the match. That's Nicole and David Tepper, who you should think publicly and tag the Carolina Panthers. They don't ask for any credit. They are chill. They are always wearing like jeans and T shirts and sweatpants in the Hamptons, and they don't ask for any credit. I just give it because they deserve it. We've had brands like kind bar and delta and away suitcases and drip drop and hydration packets and lumber and everybody comes in. The point is you establish yourself in the beginning and then people come to you, and it's extremely remarkable. It's extremely I'm extremely fortunate. It's very hard to go asking people for money, and when you get the reputation that people just want to hand it to you because I know one hundred percent is going straight to the effort. There's no bus, no begging, no advertising. It's called money to the people. And I'm very proud. And it's very gnarly. It's very gnarly because every single day, all day long, we're having conversations about things that are sensitive. You're talking about topics that are sensitive. You're talking about is it Republican or Democrat. People want you to complain and get political, and you don't want to do that because we're about helping people. And then it becomes criticism, why aren't you doing this, and why aren't you putting the money there? And why didn't you do this? And then it becomes posting, why didn't you post about Israel yet? Why didn't you stand with Israel yet? When I've been head down and you know, raised almost seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars in two days with a goal of a million dollars. And I am preparing to go down to Florida to visit my warehouse to show you guys where all of this aid lives like a costco, and how the process works, and that we didn't have a warehouse when I started years ago. We I did the three hundred thousand dollars for Harvey, and then I wanted to do something for Puerto Rico. I spent my own I think it was like twenty thirty thousand dollars to get down to Puerto Rico and fill a plane. And I in the beginning used to be on every relief trip, like in Guatemala, in Mexico, and and then I became more instrumental in like moving all the streets, the strings, Like I've got a team that is always on the ground and flying into Malle and flying into Poland and Ukraine, and this is what they do. And I often feel guilty like why I should be there, and like then I've got britann and I'm not going to bring her into New Orleans during the or the playing the flights get canceled because we're going into a hurricane zone and like you know, and Paul was like, you are you the prechairman of Coca Cola isn't putting the liquid into every bottle? Like You're better served making all the decisions like running the messaging. And I realize that Michael and I are the greatest partnership ever. Global Global Empowerment Mission is his five oh one C three and his five oh one C three is rated very high on Charity Navigator, and it allows for the infrastructure and the very small staff of volunteers and being completely lead. And there's a small percentage that goes to salaries and building and rent and all that stuff. And you tell the partners up front. So for example, if David and Nicole Tepper are donating, they decide they know what percentage is going to salaries and rents, et cetera. Be Strong as an initiative. Any money donated to be Strong, none of that goes to salaries or any of that stuff. I came in, I said, there can be no gray area. I'm a public person. One hundred percent needs to go to the effort. So if you donate to be Strong, one hundred percent goes. But there are people that are business people like in Nicolon David Temper, that realize that you need to pay people. You can't people work. People in philanthropy work seven days a week, eighteen hour days. Do not criticize charities that have a good rating on Charity Navigator where it's a reasonable percentage, because you don't want people that you don't want volunteers three hundred sixty five days a year. You know what kind of people you'll have, people come and go. You don't want a revolving door, want rock solid people that do take a reasonable and fair salary. And you just want to make sure that the whole charity's overhead is legit, and you can look that up. But my money that comes through to be Strong goes one hundred percent to the effort. But there are times that someone wants to donate a lot and I tell them, you know, it's not the sexy charity Global Impairment Mission, because they have a percentage that goes to the infrastructure, which has to and a lot of people want to underwrite that because they realize that that's the nuts and bolts of it, that's the people on the ground. So it's just you got to get educated and you have to work with people that are transparent and the big orgs, most of the big orgs, they've called us to help them. Puerto Rico, two big celebrities wanted to spend thirty thousand dollars to take planes. Guess what they call the big one, the big one that you guys always think about, where they have like crazy overhead and a ridiculous amount of money never gets to the people because it's bullshit. They told those celebrities to call us. They couldn't help them. I'm like, we're nobody. How a fuck can't you help them? So it's gnarly, it's aggressive. You're always sort of on the edge of your seat and scared. But it's going very well. And I'm going to my warehouse and we will be sending cargo planes filled with aid. That is not where the million dollars that we will raise will go. The million dollars will be distributed to families and there will likely be refugees, and that will be a whole different effort. But in ground zero right now, this is the effort of us loading cargo planes to go into Israel and distribute aid that we get donated that is in our costco size warehouse year round. So just felt like ranting today and giving you a little education on be strong and what we do

Rants with Bethenny Frankel

Bethenny Frankel tells it like it is. RANT Definition: speak or shout at length in a wild, impassio 
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