Report: New Billionaire Created Every Two Days In 2017

In 2017, 82 percent of all created wealth went to the top 1 percent. (Pixabay)

DENVER – Last year, billionaires saw their wealth increase enough to end extreme poverty around the world seven times over, according to a report from the global charity organization Oxfam.

The report, “Reward Work, Not Wealth," says 82 percent of the wealth created in 2017 went to the top 1 percent, and that a new billionaire was created every two days.

Paul O’Brien, Oxfam America’s vice president for policy and advocacy, says this growing inequality isn’t good news for workers.

"It’s not a good time to be a worker on the wrong end of the economic chain,” he states. “What we essentially have are market economies where the markets aren’t being regulated and the rules are essentially being rigged by those who can afford to do so, and that’s where you see extreme wealth emerging and people getting stuck."

Some criticize the report, saying it buries the good news that the bottom 50 percent of income earners around the world actually are doing better than previously thought.

The report focuses on the inequality women face in the workplace. It says women provided an estimated $10 trillion in unpaid work caring for someone else in 2017.

Charlie Ergen, the founder of Dish Network, is Colorado’s richest man with a fortune estimated at $4.4 billion.

O’Brien says a lot of wealthy people contribute substantially to charities, but adds that the wealthy also have power to hurt the rest of society when they don’t share their prosperity.

"If human dignity is dependent on everybody having enough power and rights to be able to lift themselves out of poverty, to live with dignity, should any individual have that much power?" he says.

The Oxfam report has also been chided as overly critical of capitalism and free markets.

O’Brien says it’s the opposite – that the organization actually wants to see markets work for everyone.

"How do we actually create incentives for companies to grow, markets to work, without creating these extreme realities for people on both ends of the equation?" he raises.

O’Brien says governments should incentivize business structures that are more beneficial to workers, such as cooperatives, and find a way to compensate people who work in the care economy.

Eric Tegethoff/Roz Brown, Public News Service – CO

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The Broadmoor joins Colorado Springs’ food rescue movement with shelter donations

The Broadmoor Hotel photographed April 10, 2007. (Gazette file photo)

They were destined for the city’s largest homeless shelter.

An accelerating trend in Colorado Springs aims to provide leftover food from businesses across the city to nonprofits that serve meals to impoverished and homeless residents.

In December, for example, Catholic Charities of Central Colorado received a $75,000 grant from the Walmart Foundation for a new refrigerated truck to replace a vehicle that routinely broke down, hampering food runs for its Marian House Soup Kitchen.

And late last year, the Springs Rescue Mission received a combined $50,000 from the El Pomar Foundation and The Anschutz Foundation to purchase its first refrigerated truck for similar deliveries.

The Broadmoor is the first to provide the shelter with a steady supply of prepared food that otherwise would have gone to waste. And it’s calling on other members of the Pikes Peak Lodging Association to join the endeavor.

"When you’re thinking about the waste that occurs, that goes to the landfill, as well as the waste that occurs that could benefit somebody, the good far outweighs any potential negative," said Jack Damioli, The Broadmoor’s president and CEO.

The Broadmoor is owned by the Denver-based Anschutz Corp., whose Clarity Media Group owns The Gazette.

The trend of so-called "food rescue" programs gained steam in recent years across Colorado Springs with the successes of the nonprofit Colorado Springs Food Rescue and the startup FoodMaven.

Still, the restaurant and hotel industries have long been reluctant to donate prepared food that went uneaten, amid fears that poor handling could lead to food poisoning, said Rochelle Schlortt, Catholic Charities’ spokeswoman.

"That thinking has really changed over the years," Schlortt said. "Now, it’s a learning process – or was a learning process – in our community of getting people to understand that … soup kitchens understand how to handle food, and it’s OK to donate prepared food."

Catholic Charities once had a similar partnership with the Cheyenne Mountain Resort. It now receives perishable food from 10 to 15 businesses, including Poor Richard’s and 7-Eleven. And it wants to expand with its new truck.

Schlortt voiced optimism that The Broadmoor’s partnership with Springs Rescue Mission could push some of the city’s other large kitchens and businesses to follow suit.

The hotel’s leftovers can be substantial.

The Broadmoor makes 5 percent in excess food for each buffet-style event to ensure it won’t run out, said John Johnstone, vice president of food and beverages.

In three trial runs last year, the hotel donated more than 3,500 pounds of food to the Springs Rescue Mission, said Michael Longo, the nonprofit’s executive chef and director of in-kind services.

None of the food given to the Springs Rescue Mission was previously served, or even removed from the kitchen. Its temperature is routinely checked to ensure nothing goes bad, Johnstone said.

"We’re treating this as if it was going to one of our guests," Damioli said.

The partnership is expected to reduce the cost of feeding hundreds of people a day, which currently averages 29 cents a meal.

And in the process, the nonprofit’s menu gets a boost, Longo said.

The donated bison short rib and prime rib roast were used to make stews at the nonprofit, he said.

And a wild boar green chili stew was served as-is at the nonprofit’s dining hall, over a bed of rice.

"They need good nutrition," said Longo, of the nonprofit’s guests.

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Former Aggie LB Von Miller honored by NFL for charitable work

Denver Broncos and former Texas A&M defensive end Von Miller was the NFL Players’ Association’s Week 17 Community MVP for donating 2,013 eyeglass frames to youth in need through the Anchor Center for Blind Children in Denver.

The donation is part of the former A&M All-American’s Von’s Vision foundation, which provides low-income Denver children with eye care and corrective eyewear.

Miller’s donation, which equated to a $503,250 contribution, was one of many charitable contributions he made last year. He also raised nearly $400,000 at his annual Celebrity Steak-Out dinner. Miller launched Von’s Vision All Year Long in September, committing more than $1 million worth of frames to in-need Denver children over the next two years. In 2017, Miller provided free eye care to 3,278 Denver students, bringing the total to more than 5,000 kids impacted since he founded Von’s Vision five years ago.

For Miller being named a Community MVP, the NFLPA will make a $10,000 contribution to his foundation or charity of choice along with an in-kind donation to him on behalf of Delta Private Jets.

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