Lord bless the internet.............
Dressed for largesse
The founders of the hip-hop Ecko clothing line put charity at the center of their business plan
by Ron Kaplan
NJJN Staff Writer
A raucous crowd of more than 500 gathered at the Edgewater Golf Range recently to raise money for a Jewish orphanage in Odessa, Ukraine, the pet project of Ecko Unltd.
On the surface, a more unlikely connection would be difficult to conceive.
Ecko is a hip-hop “lifestyle” empire, consisting of several lines of clothing, jewelry, and a pop culture publication. There’s even a video game in the works. Their demographic skews mostly young and urban. Celebrities who wear the Ecko label, such as rap star 50 Cent, comedian Tracy Morgan, and singer Mike Shinoda of the group Linkin Park, go a long way in giving the company credibility in a fickle market.
But for the two former Rutgers University students who run the South River-based business, supporting the orphanage is the natural — some might say supernatural — extension of a philosophy that says one can do well by doing good.
“I want to draw in cultural leaders and show to young people that being charitable can be cool,” said Marc Ecko, the company’s founder and chief designer. “That’s my primary objective with any initiative we undertake. Too many young people are too selfish and need to realize the impact of helping others.”
Ecko’s founders seem to have a finger in an ever-growing bakeshop of pies. Is it the result of a short attention span, or simply a case of boundless energy and creativity?
“It’s boring doing one thing,” said Ecko. “I love being the underdog, being told ‘You can’t do that’ or ‘You won’t succeed at this,’ then setting out to prove them wrong.”
Ecko runs the business, now in its second decade, with his friend Seth Gerszberg, the company’s president and CEO. Ecko’s twin sister, Marci Tapper, serves as executive vice president. The three attended Rutgers together, although it seems only Marci could concentrate on her studies enough to come away with a degree.
Ecko, 32, grew up in Lakewood, an ethnically diverse town, despite its large Orthodox Jewish population. He seems the embodiment of the kid who was artistically gifted at the expense of other activities, such as sports. On his resume, he lists “graffiti artist” as his first occupation. (“No real exciting stories, fortunately or unfortunately. I played it smart and always worked alone. I never drew a crowd and I never pushed my luck either.”)
“You grow up a product of your environment, shaped by what is going on around you. This was a time in youth culture when you had to find hip-hop; it didn’t find you like it does today.
“It never occurred to me that I was a ‘white Jewish kid into hip-hop’ until I went to college,” said Ecko. “When you are no longer surrounded by your childhood peers, people instantly try to sum up your autobiography based on the book cover alone. People who know me, who grew up with me, never judged me by what role I was supposed to play but instead by who I am and how my work contributes to the bigger paradigm.”
Barry who?????
Fuck black people and their legacy.....................
“It was around that time I heard about [Tikva]. I said to Marc that we’d make a deal with my cousin and make a deal with God at the same time, that in the event that we ever came out of this debt that we would donate our first $100,000 of profit to charity.” Eighteen months later, the company made good on that promise.
But rather than just writing a check, Gerszberg and Ecko visited the orphanage, to see first-hand what its needs were and how best to go about filling them. Seeing the elaborate system of administrative corruption inherent in the Ukrainian child-care system, Gerszberg and Ecko decided to take it upon themselves to help with Tikva’s day-to-day affairs.
Tikva — “hope” in Hebrew — was created by Rabbi Shlomo Baksht, chief rabbi of Odessa, in 1996 to aid abandoned and homeless Jewish youngsters as well as orphans. More than 200 boys and girls, ages four-16, live at the facility; another 500 students receive their education there, with plans for expansion under way. Once the children reach 16, the Ukrainian government allows them to be relocated. Most of them move to Israel to begin new lives, supported by sister organizations and other support outlets there.
Gerszberg, who serves as president of Tikva’s board of trustees, slowed his thoughts, trying to deal with the emotion of his memories. “Our experiences were pretty amazing. We didn’t know what to expect.” They found children living in train stations and under worse circumstances, victims of various forms of abuse. Ecko and Gerszberg realized that their initial $100,000 was just a drop in the bucket and committed to raising an additional $1.8 million to upgrade the facility. Ecko Unltd. underwrites all the operating costs, so 100 percent of all donations go on to the children.
This year marked the second Tikva Drive for Life, a celebrity and VIP charity golf event held Aug. 10 at the Edgewater Golf Range. The event raised more than $1 million this year, up from last year’s $600,000. Donors ponied up a minimum of $5,000 for the chance to hit a few balls, smoke some cigars, and shmooz. Several attendees wore kipot, “an indication of the number of Jews still in the garment industry,” noted Gerszberg. He found it “gratifying” that so many were willing to take a little while from their busy lives to do so much good.
“Tikva is about doing the right thing,” Ecko added in a separate interview. “Not helping is simply not acceptable, and writing a check is simply too easy. It’s about giving our kids a feeling that they can depend on us, as family — emotionally, physically, spiritually, and mentally. It’s about developing a model and showing skeptics that the model can be scaled up to help as many of these kids as humanly possible.”
What black kids in New jersey????
New Jersey has black kids????
What has he contributed to the black community that makes up his customers???
Are his customers in Ukraine????
black people better wake up quick.
Using black culture to take black people's money out of their pocket..........
Dressed for largesse
The founders of the hip-hop Ecko clothing line put charity at the center of their business plan
by Ron Kaplan
NJJN Staff Writer
A raucous crowd of more than 500 gathered at the Edgewater Golf Range recently to raise money for a Jewish orphanage in Odessa, Ukraine, the pet project of Ecko Unltd.
On the surface, a more unlikely connection would be difficult to conceive.
Ecko is a hip-hop “lifestyle” empire, consisting of several lines of clothing, jewelry, and a pop culture publication. There’s even a video game in the works. Their demographic skews mostly young and urban. Celebrities who wear the Ecko label, such as rap star 50 Cent, comedian Tracy Morgan, and singer Mike Shinoda of the group Linkin Park, go a long way in giving the company credibility in a fickle market.
But for the two former Rutgers University students who run the South River-based business, supporting the orphanage is the natural — some might say supernatural — extension of a philosophy that says one can do well by doing good.
“I want to draw in cultural leaders and show to young people that being charitable can be cool,” said Marc Ecko, the company’s founder and chief designer. “That’s my primary objective with any initiative we undertake. Too many young people are too selfish and need to realize the impact of helping others.”
Ecko’s founders seem to have a finger in an ever-growing bakeshop of pies. Is it the result of a short attention span, or simply a case of boundless energy and creativity?
“It’s boring doing one thing,” said Ecko. “I love being the underdog, being told ‘You can’t do that’ or ‘You won’t succeed at this,’ then setting out to prove them wrong.”
Ecko runs the business, now in its second decade, with his friend Seth Gerszberg, the company’s president and CEO. Ecko’s twin sister, Marci Tapper, serves as executive vice president. The three attended Rutgers together, although it seems only Marci could concentrate on her studies enough to come away with a degree.
Ecko, 32, grew up in Lakewood, an ethnically diverse town, despite its large Orthodox Jewish population. He seems the embodiment of the kid who was artistically gifted at the expense of other activities, such as sports. On his resume, he lists “graffiti artist” as his first occupation. (“No real exciting stories, fortunately or unfortunately. I played it smart and always worked alone. I never drew a crowd and I never pushed my luck either.”)
“You grow up a product of your environment, shaped by what is going on around you. This was a time in youth culture when you had to find hip-hop; it didn’t find you like it does today.
“It never occurred to me that I was a ‘white Jewish kid into hip-hop’ until I went to college,” said Ecko. “When you are no longer surrounded by your childhood peers, people instantly try to sum up your autobiography based on the book cover alone. People who know me, who grew up with me, never judged me by what role I was supposed to play but instead by who I am and how my work contributes to the bigger paradigm.”
Barry who?????
Fuck black people and their legacy.....................
“It was around that time I heard about [Tikva]. I said to Marc that we’d make a deal with my cousin and make a deal with God at the same time, that in the event that we ever came out of this debt that we would donate our first $100,000 of profit to charity.” Eighteen months later, the company made good on that promise.
But rather than just writing a check, Gerszberg and Ecko visited the orphanage, to see first-hand what its needs were and how best to go about filling them. Seeing the elaborate system of administrative corruption inherent in the Ukrainian child-care system, Gerszberg and Ecko decided to take it upon themselves to help with Tikva’s day-to-day affairs.
Tikva — “hope” in Hebrew — was created by Rabbi Shlomo Baksht, chief rabbi of Odessa, in 1996 to aid abandoned and homeless Jewish youngsters as well as orphans. More than 200 boys and girls, ages four-16, live at the facility; another 500 students receive their education there, with plans for expansion under way. Once the children reach 16, the Ukrainian government allows them to be relocated. Most of them move to Israel to begin new lives, supported by sister organizations and other support outlets there.
Gerszberg, who serves as president of Tikva’s board of trustees, slowed his thoughts, trying to deal with the emotion of his memories. “Our experiences were pretty amazing. We didn’t know what to expect.” They found children living in train stations and under worse circumstances, victims of various forms of abuse. Ecko and Gerszberg realized that their initial $100,000 was just a drop in the bucket and committed to raising an additional $1.8 million to upgrade the facility. Ecko Unltd. underwrites all the operating costs, so 100 percent of all donations go on to the children.
This year marked the second Tikva Drive for Life, a celebrity and VIP charity golf event held Aug. 10 at the Edgewater Golf Range. The event raised more than $1 million this year, up from last year’s $600,000. Donors ponied up a minimum of $5,000 for the chance to hit a few balls, smoke some cigars, and shmooz. Several attendees wore kipot, “an indication of the number of Jews still in the garment industry,” noted Gerszberg. He found it “gratifying” that so many were willing to take a little while from their busy lives to do so much good.
“Tikva is about doing the right thing,” Ecko added in a separate interview. “Not helping is simply not acceptable, and writing a check is simply too easy. It’s about giving our kids a feeling that they can depend on us, as family — emotionally, physically, spiritually, and mentally. It’s about developing a model and showing skeptics that the model can be scaled up to help as many of these kids as humanly possible.”
What black kids in New jersey????
New Jersey has black kids????
What has he contributed to the black community that makes up his customers???
Are his customers in Ukraine????
black people better wake up quick.
Using black culture to take black people's money out of their pocket..........
