Philanthropic Printers — The Gift of Giving

The cause closest to Rosenthal’s heart is the Gilda House of Bucks/Montgomery County (PA), named in memory of Gilda Radner, the famed Saturday Night Live star who died of ovarian cancer. Gilda Houses are located across the country and serve as cancer patient support centers that promote healing through social interaction and activity (in addition to traditional medical treatment).

Rosenthal has been involved with his local Gilda House for the past seven years, supporting the organization in various ways, including doing its printing, participating in fund raisers (the annual golf tournament is one of his favorites) and, most recently, donating 100 photographs that he took at Gilda House to the organization.

Another Pennsylvania printer, this one in Philadelphia, also donates a lot of printing to charitable organizations. In fact, the donations made by Pearl Pressman Liberty (PPL) Communications Group read more like a scroll than a contributor’s list. According to Elliot Schindler, executive vice president and principal, PPL’s 2007 contributions add up like this: $20,000 for printing/donating the Courageous Kids calendar for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; $5,000 (per year) for printing/donating the program for the annual Alzheimer’s Association Chocolate Symphony fund raiser; $7,500 for printing/donating the 2008 ALS calendar and $7,500 (per year) for printing/donating the Blind Relief Fund Annual Report.

Do the math: That’s $40,000 in donated printing, but the printer’s kindness isn’t exhausted yet. . .not by a long shot.

Two of the biggest contributions PPL makes involves co-sponsoring annual fund-raising events. For the Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Foundation’s Annual Stair Climb, PPL donates the printing, but also serves as co-sponsor of the event, where participants climb 53 floors of the Mellon Bank to raise money ($100,000 was collected this year). PPL co-sponsors the ALS Phillies Phestival for the Fight Against Lou Gehrig’s Disease each year and donates the printed material promoting the event.