logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

At Super Bowl, Role Model Philanthropist to Make Posthumous Appearance

Mike Keefe-Feldman
January 30, 2012
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

January 29, 2012; Source: Boston Herald | When the New England Patriots take the field for Super Bowl XLVI, so will Myra Kraft—symbolically, at least. The wife of Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Myra Kraft died in July of 2011 after battling cancer. The Patriots have dedicated their season to the late philanthropist, wearing a patch with her initials, MHK, on their uniforms throughout the current football season.

This recent Boston Herald column notes that Myra Kraft went beyond the kind of from-a-distance philanthropy that is often typical of wealthy donors, stating that “in addition to writing checks, [she] rolled up her sleeves and pitched in.”

It’s true. Aside from raising money for numerous educational initiatives through the Kraft Foundation, Myra Kraft also served as the first female chair of the Boys & Girls Club of Boston and was the national chair for the United Jewish Communities General Assembly. She served on the boards of directors at the Boston Foundation, the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, Brandeis University, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the American Repertory Theatre.

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

“She was down in the trenches, doing real work for real people,” Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz told the Boston Globe shortly after Kraft’s death.

The same Globe article also points to Kraft’s acute sense of social justice, offering an example of a trip to apartheid South Africa during which Kraft apparently inquired as to why police officers were arresting a group of black men. When told that the men were being arrested because they lacked the documentation that would allow them to be out at night, Kraft reportedly told the officers that she didn’t have the papers either, shouting, “So arrest me too!” as one of her sons forcibly ushered her away from the confrontation before the officers could take her up on her offer.

In the midst of the hype surrounding the much-anticipated game, the glitz of the halftime show and the preposterously expensive commercials, NPQ hopes that broadcasters will use Super Sunday—one of the few remaining events that still reaches a wide swath of Americans—to point out the giving and inspirational actions behind those three letters on the Patriots’ uniforms, reminding us that we are remembered most not for the “touchdowns” that we score, but for those that we help others achieve. –Mike Keefe-Feldman

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

Spring-2023-sidebar-subscribe
You might also like
Arab American Philanthropy
Tamara El-Khoury
The Nonprofit Sector and Social Change: A Conversation between Cyndi Suarez and Claire Dunning
Claire Dunning and Cyndi Suarez
Nonprofits as Battlegrounds for Democracy
Cyndi Suarez
Sankofa Philanthropy: Hip Hop’s Sixth Element
Jason Terrell
Why Social Change Films Matter
Cyndi Suarez and Saphia Suarez
Philanthropy Must Move from Charity to Solidarity
Son Chau

NPQ Webinars

April 27th, 2 pm ET

Liberatory Decision-Making

How to Facilitate and Engage in Healthy Decision-making Processes

Register Now
You might also like
Brown-skinned Arabic woman wearing a bowler hat and looking into the camera. She is standing in front of a bougainvillea plant.
Arab American Philanthropy
Tamara El-Khoury
The book "Nonprofit Neighborhoods" leaning against a wall
The Nonprofit Sector and Social Change: A Conversation...
Claire Dunning and Cyndi Suarez
Nonprofits as Battlegrounds for Democracy
Cyndi Suarez

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

NPQ-Spring-2023-cover

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.