Tag Archives: Heartland Payment Systems

Privilege: Giving back

Business, Faith and Social Justice, , , ,
-Sy-Stokes
The Black Bruins video

Robert Carr

“Those with less opportunity are fighting for position, trying to find their place, but those with privilege are hitting triples, when they were already on third base.” 

This succinct description of white privilege came from the video The Black Bruins, by Sy Stokes, which went viral in 2013. An article by Eric Hoover in the Chronicle of Higher Education, tells how the video challenged and changed UCLA:

At right, Robert Carr is an example of using privilege to help others find their place. He was not born rich, but as founder of Heartland Payment Systems, he made millions, and is donating $20 million through the Give Something Back Foundation to help low-income students get through college.

(A version of this post is at NIOT Princeton).

Maundy Thursday: Airline Miles and Shy Feet

Around Town, Business, Faith and Social Justice, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

shy feet

In my email on Linked In this morning, chamber colleague Ken Haag published Is Your Business Heartland Secure? 

By following Haag’s link, I reminded myself that Heartland has a shop local card that helps Princeton merchants by eliminating processing fees. Another colleague at the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce, Adrienne Rubin represents that division. With the One Princeton card, you can pay for things with your smart phone. Benefit to consumer: one percent of every transaction goes to the consumer’s choice of any of dozens of nonprofit organizations, including the Latin American Legal Defense Fund,  Princeton Senior Resource Center, and Princeton Community Housing

I sure hate to give up airline miles, but frequent flyer seats are getting scarce.

And thanks to Rothstein Hughes, who attends Grant Chapel in Trenton, I learned that on Maundy Thursday (today, when Jesus observed his last Passover meal with his disciples) it’s traditional to — not only wash the feet of the poor — but also hand out alms.

Queen Elizabeth follows that tradition TODAY in Sheffield, England, giving money to 89 people, a number that represents her age.

So today I’ll actually join up to get that One Princeton card. With every transaction, I will lose airline miles — but one percent of the transaction will benefit charity.

No, Queen Elizabeth is not doing the foot washing part — but some of us will. Tonight at 7:30 at Princeton United Methodist Church the youth choir leads the Holy Communion Service along with foot washing.

For folks like me, the alternative is hand washing. I have shy feet.

And you?