A Brother in Need is a Brother Indeed

A Biblical story in the book of Genesis is told of two brothers, Kane and Abel, who belonged to the first family after creation. When it came time for the two brothers to offer sacrifice to God, Kane’s offering was rejected while Abel’s was accepted. Anger, jealousy and rage drove Kane to kill his brother, and when asked about Abel’s whereabouts by God, Kane famously replied, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?”

Steve Down demonstrates his love towards a brother through joyous giving

To be a brother’s keeper is to be responsible for the welfare of a brother or other sibling or, by extension, for other human beings in general.

A Calling to Give

Tracing the life and times of Mr Steve Down, a pattern of charitable magnanimity emerges from the activities of this serial entrepreneur. The tenets of sharing himself with the world encapsulate the ideology that has guided Mr Down throughout his life. True to his acumen, Mr Steve Down is business savvy and outrageously successful in his ventures, but more so, he has directed the profits of his undertakings towards humanitarian causes.

After he elected to adopt the philosophy of Cause Capitalism as a blueprint for his charitable activities, Mr Steve Down promptly incorporated this principle into practice through his business. In 2014, at Salt Lake City, Utah, Down opened the first Even Stevens Sandwiches a craft-casual restaurant that incorporated a buy-one-give-one model. The brand, operating in 19 locations across five states namely, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho and Texas, hit the 1 million donated sandwiches mark in January 2017 and hit the 2 million mark by end of 2017. This was an unprecedented gesture at disrupting the traditional model of Capitalism.

When Steve Down arrived in Kenya, he set up his principled centered wealth and financial literacy company, FinanciallyFit and thereafter founded The Goat Foundation. FinanciallyFit a for-profit company would donate a percentage of its earnings towards The Goat Foundation as a true sustainable non-profit Cause partner.

Talking about The Goat Foundation, Steve envisions partnerships and collaborations with individuals, businesses and organizations whose generosity will go toward providing a pair of goats to widows and orphans in impoverished communities.

Mr Steve Down spends time sensitizing the public about the plight of widows with the intention of engaging a host of like-minded partners. This coalition of benevolent philanthropists will then work through The Goat Foundation to uplift the economic status of widows.

How Caring Transforms Lives

Speaking to a gathering of widows and community members, Steve Down explains the universal of giving so as to receive.

Women in Africa occupied the lower rung in decision-making and opportunity which made them vulnerable to early marriages, economic displacement, violence, malnutrition, disease, sexual exploitation and missed educational opportunities.

The Goat Foundation empowers widows by publicly engaging with them and donating a pair of goats to their families. The $100 worth of donation provides equal opportunities for wealth creation, health, and social empowerment.

In a speech given at an earlier goat giveback ceremony at Kalama, Machakos County, Kenya, Mr Down summed up his idea of giving hope by saying, “Hope is a powerful thing. It’s only as good as the object you place it in. Hope can bring you through the darkest night. By donating the gift of goats we have planted a seed of hope in you that I believe will illuminate your future and guide you towards more giving. For by giving, we receive.”

Cause Capitalism as proposed and applied by Steve Down and his team enables individuals from all walks of life to be a brother’s keeper by giving towards charitable foundations such as The Goat Foundation. His vision is one where widows acquire economic traction to steer themselves towards financial freedom and sustainable living standards.

Steve Down believes that sometimes, all a person needs is a little hope to continue and that we all have the chance to give that hope to someone.

Let us be our brother’s keeper