Pampered Chef "scandal"
 

Hi all -- I am posting this here because I would like some more info about this if any of you are PC consultants. I have my own home-based business (PartyLite) and wonder if this will create bad feelings towards home businesses in general. I am NOT asking for you to debate abortion vs. pro-life -- if you want to do that, fine, but don't say later that I asked for it. I will say that as for me, myself, and/or not limited to, I -- will no longer buy PC products (which means I must call now to cancel the order that was to go in next week - ugh!). If you are a PC consultant, or know someone who is, could you give me some more info about this news. (By the way, if you don't know, Citizen Magazine initiated this article -- it is run by the President and Founder of "Focus on the Family," Dr. James Dobson.) Whether or not you agree with Dr. Dobson, or FOTF, I just wanted everyone to know it is a legitimate source -- this info has also been confirmed and the PC ban supported by many Catholic-based organizations. So this is not something that was just made up on the spot. Thanks for any more insight that you can give to me about this, in advance! (Begin forwarded article....)

A project of the American Family Association


Tuesday, July 1, 2003
Pampered Chef consultants quitting over abortion support
Dear Heidi,

A growing number of Christian, pro-life mothers are leaving
lucrative careers with a national kitchenware company because of the new
owner's support of abortion.

"The Pampered Chef" is one of the nation's largest and
fastest-growing kitchenware companies. Mostly stay-at-home moms who sell the
products from home have driven the company, founded in 1980 by professing
Christian and stay-at-home mother Doris Christopher. The company boasts more
than 67,000 "Kitchen Consultants" and sales of $700 million annually.

But now, according to Citizen magazine, many Christian mothers
are walking away from the company because Pampered Chef's new owner,
billionaire Warren Buffett, is a huge supporter of abortion. His Buffett
Foundation, using company profits, has donated tens of millions of dollars
to abortion-related causes.

Citizen reports that Buffett's conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway,
Inc. -- owners of such well-known names as Dairy Queen, See's Candy, and
Fruit of the Loom -- has funneled millions of dollars to the Foundation. The
Foundation, in turn, last year donated at least $11 million to pro-choice
and "reproductive-rights" groups.

Among those recipients are international abortion-provider
Planned Parenthood, the Population Council -- chief promoter of RU-486 in
the U.S. -- and International Projects Assistance Services. IPAS,
beneficiary of a five-year, $20 million commitment from the Foundation in
1999, is the principal manufacturer of the suction pumps used in abortions.
According to Business Week, that financial backing permitted IPAS to double
its capacity to produce and distribute "manual vacuum aspirators (MVAs)."

According to Citizen, the exodus of Pampered Chef distributors
who are pro-life is gaining steam. It says resignations of top-selling
distributors are catching the attention of company officials. Among those
who have decided to quit the company is Tammy Gillespie of Tupelo,
Mississippi. She excludes Buffett from her decision.

"It's not between me and Warren Buffet, it's between me and
God," Gillespie says. "I cannot bow before the Lord when I get to heaven and
have Him look me in the eye and say, 'You knew that your money was going to
fund abortion.' And that's why I'm quitting the Pampered Chef."

Gillespie says the decision was not a difficult decision for her
and her husband to make. "We searched God's Word and found a ton of
scriptures that I believe that God led us to find and know exactly where God
stands," she says.

"The Book of James it says if you know what to do and you don't
do it, it's a sin. So if you know where God stands on something and you
choose not to do it because of finances or because you like the product,
it's sin."

She says there was never any hesitation on her part about
quitting a company that helps finance the killing of innocent babies.
Citizen quotes a West Virginia mom and a 33-year-old Arizona mother of three
who both also have resigned from The Pampered Chef over its financial
support to abortion-related causes,

Buffett purchased The Pampered Chef in September 2002 and
remained under the management of Mrs. Christopher at that time.


ACTION NEEDED
AFA encourages you to forward this information to current
Pampered Chef Consultants, and to friends and family who have or may
purchase Pampered Chef products.

Additional research:


a.. Online version of this alert -
http://www.onemillionmoms.com/email/...hef070103.html
b.. The Website For Pampered Chef Consultants And Customers
Who Are Committed To Protecting Life

c.. Warren Buffet: No Project Too Controversial

d.. How Profits From The Pampered Chef Fuel The Abortion
Industry (The material at this site refutes a "defense" letter by Pampered
Chef Founder and Chairman Doris K. Christopher)

e.. Pampered Chef Consultant petition

f.. Shareholders Urge Billionaire to Stop Bankrolling Abortion
and Population Control

g.. Pampered Chef website contact page
PS: Don't forget! Forward this to your family and friends.
Thanks!

That's a very interesting article. I would love to hear PC's side of the story, too.

In my opinion, whether someone is Pro-Life or Pro-Choice, it is gratifying to see people willing to put their convictions (whatever they may be) ahead of their personal gain.

Whoa, I didn't know Warren Buffet owned Pampered Chef.

Sometimes I get the impression that W.B. owns more of the world than he DOESN'T own

Learn new things every day... didn't know Brother Buffett owned Pampered Chef. (He's an Alpha Sig from Omicron Chapter (UPenn) - 1948).

Gee, wonder what would have happened if he had married the Alpha Gam that started Meals on Wheels! ;) :D

Okay, back to the topic, lol.

One of my closest friends is a PC consultant, and I've contacted her for additional info on this story.

I think you're right Killarney.


If you're going to quit PC because of Uncle Warren, get ready to boycott a whole lot of products/companies you probably use right now.

I think the main point here (at least what I am taking from this) is that many women who have a career with PC did so because they believed it to express Christian ideals - especially for stay-at-home mothers (which, according to other stats and research completely separate from this article, the majority of SAHM's do so because of religious beliefs). Regardless of whether you supoprt abortion or are pro-life, I do believe that the independent consultants had a right to be told that this was what their sales were going towards. Do you see what I'm saying?

I see what you're saying but I think every company is "in bed with the Devil" to a certain extent:
Girl Guide/Scout Cookies -> all roads lead back to RJ Reynolds (the tobacco giant).

Shell Oil -> have a bit of a bad reputation for pillaging the earth

McDonalds -> don't get me started...

The Body Shop -> their packaging says "Against Animal Testing", rather than "Not Tested on Animals", but that does not mean that they don't test on animals, or subcontract out to someone else who will do the "dirty work" for them.....

Essentially, it's about one's tolerance level and if what you are purchasing enables you to sleep at night. The End.

As I understand it, those donations come from the Buffet Foundation, which employees of Bershire Hathaway shareholders make contributions to...the last paragraph of this little snippet explains that the contribution program was discontinued with respect to Pampered Chef. Of course, Buffett will still profit from PC sales & continue to make his donations, but as CutiePie2000 says, it's a matter of your personal tolerance level....

Here's a little more on this subject from snopes:

(for full text see http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/buffett.asp)

The motive force behind Berkshire Hathaway is its chairman and chief executive, Warren Buffett.....His charitable organization, the Buffett Foundation, currently has $25.3 million in assets, and these holdings are expected to swell to $36 billion when Buffett and his wife die and their shares in Berkshire Hathaway go to the Buffett Foundation, which will make it the richest charitable foundation in the world.

About 60 percent of the $33.4 million bestowed by the Buffett Foundation in fiscal year 2001 went toward family planning, reproductive rights, and population control programs operated by organizations such as Planned Parenthood, Johns Hopkins University, and the United Nations in accordance with Warren Buffett's beliefs that population growth must be checked before exceeding a level sustainable by the earth's resources. The Buffett Foundation also funds a number of college scholarships and awards in recognition of exemplary teachers.

In July 2003 Berkshire Hathaway announced the end of its shareholder-designated contribution program. It cited certain donations, including some made by Buffett, for causing "harmful criticism" to be directed at Pampered Chef as the reason for ending the donations program.

Berkshire said all its subsidiaries will continue to support local charities under direction of their local managers in a manner consistent with what has been done.

Yes, I do understand that many companies are in bed with the devil (and I did find that out about the Body Shop unfortunately!) - as far as tolerance level goes, however, that is where I have the problem. Its not so much about PURCHASING products as it is about WORKING for these companies UNKNOWINGLY bringing in $$ for them.

For instance, I am a huge animal rights advocate (not ACTIVIST meaning I am not in support of PETA on all things like people like to assume) -- if I were hired to sell chocolates (something totally unrelated) and did so because I believed it would support my animal rights ideals and my choice to be a SAHM, I would be really MAD if I later found out that sales from my chocolate store were going to support greyhound breeding for racing (yeah, I just made that isht up :) ).

I mean we all make decisions to purchase items that we may (or may not) know brings in $$ for a company with ideals with which we disagree -- but, I think its a legitimate complaint for these people who had no idea that what they did for a LIVING meant that they were unknowingly supporting a cause of which they disagree morally.

dzandiloo - thanks for the extra info! I'm still anxious to hear back from a PC person -- or someone with ties to a PC person.

No, I'd be mad too if I worked for a company and then I found out that their activities contravened my personal moral code.

I spoke with my friend this AM, and she said pretty much what Andi posted concerning the contribution program. She also told me that Doris Christopher recently met again with Buffett and reinterated her position that there needs to be a separation of church and state so to say--that the subsidiaries need to show that they are a separate entity from any Foundation giving, and that Foundation support must be a voluntary choice for any employee. From talking with her today, and now reading what Andi found, it sounds to me as if Buffett has done the right thing in this situation.

so i'm confused here... did they not issue out a memo to every single of their thousands and thousands of employees when the head honcho decides to make a contribution to a certain cause?

While i don't think it's right that the employees weren't aware they were bringing in $$ for these causes, I personally don't see it as a super-huge deal. There are a lot of things I support and believe in, but I wouldn't be personally offended if I found out the company I worked for donated money to a cause I didn't believe in. I guess it all depends on the person's sensitivity to the particular cause.

Even if Company ABC is donating tons & tons of money for a cause, say pro-life for example, there is always another company donating tons & tons of money for the opposite cause, in this case pro-choice.

Not everyone will be interested in what kinds of monetary contributions their company gives to whatever causes, so I think it would be in the best interests of companies to have some kind of "latest news" available to their employees so they can have access to what is going on and won't freak out and say they didn't know their company was "lying with the devil" because in all reality, "lying with the devil" is merely a point of perspective.

What one person thinks "lying with the devil" is, another person might totally disagree. :)

All I can say to this statement is, "Amen Sister!" :D

Hey AXO Alum (or anyone else who wants to buy it), I know where you can get a company making ID cards real cheap! Forget these other companies and work for yourself! Make 100% instead of 20%!
:)

Wow... I am Christian, and it's probably a sin for me to admit this... but those quotes from Tammy from Tupelo made me almost die from laughter. I may be Southern Baptist, but I am so glad that my church doesn't get into the whole "Let's boycott the entire world" thing. I will continue to watch Disney movies even if they DO have Gay Pride Day at WDW, thank you very much. I will use all sorts of Procter and Gamble products even if you say their packages are covered with devil-worshipper symbolism. :rolleyes: And Warren Buffett's particular political views wouldn't stop me from buying Pampered Chef products or selling them if I was so inclined. I can't control the entire world and force them to worship my God. I worry about my own spiritual walk with the Lord, and that's hard enough without worrying about how every cent I spend is contributing to the devil's work.

HOWEVER... I would not want to financially contribute (through employment) to a company whose values completely contradicted mine such as in this story. So I don't blame her, and I suppose I do admire her strength of conviction.

Yeah, I have to agree with the above statement. I mean seriously. At some point in our lives we've all bought something or worked for someone who had their hands in the cookie jar (in a bad way).

I commend their rights and if they want to boycott that's great. But also realize that people will probably continue to donate to causes that are to their liking and not base it off of the concensus of the group. What Mr. Buffet does with his money is his business - whether or not we agree with it.

I guess that's just my opinion!

So very true. This is also true for the shareholders--who directed what happened to the profits from their individual shares. At the end of the day--money talks.

I'm surprised that this didn't come up the very moment that Buffett and BH acquired PC, as he is known for being a staunch pro-choice supporter. In fact, Operation Rescue or some such organization has him listed as one of the top supporters of abortions in terms of donations to reproductive rights organizations (Bill Gates is also high on the list).

It's really not that hard to find out the stance of your employer/ favorite store/university in certain arenas, especially if they are causes that you are especially concerned about (as these PC women are supposedly about abortion). A quick internet search or asking around can provide information about divestments and social policies--I have often used these as a tool to decide whether I want to grace an employer or store with my time or money. If BH had been hiding their collaboration with family planning organizations, I could feel sorry for these women. But I don't.

another point of view?
 

CarolinaCutie, very well said!

Here's another way of looking at it:

From the customer's point of view (people who purchase the PC products and in effect make the PC world go 'round:

Now that 'it's gotten out' that Mr. Buffet likes to contribute monetary donations to 'devilish' causes, should the PC consultants or even Dairy Queen cashiers (since they guy supposedly owns Dairy Queen too?) put in a quick disclaimer to their customers before closing a sale?

"Oh yea, just so you know, some portions of this sale of your sundae and banana split will go to pro-choice organizations, so you might want to reconsider your purchase if you don't believe in this cause"

It makes absolutely no sense.

Like Munchkin mentioned, a quick internet search some other sort of quick reference can provide the employee, or in this case - this customer, with the information they want to know if they are really hard-core about boycotting products/companies that support organizations that don't line up with their beliefs. So there really isn't a need for the employees to majorly freak out about this because the information is out there. :)

I wasn't trying to be sarcastic in my post, and didn't realize that it would come off to others that way -- I was simply asking for some more info from a PC person (thanks AOTT for that) about this. Its not that I necessarily believe every parent company with 10 bazillion employees should "ask permission" or send a memo out to let them know what they intend to do with their money. However, I do believe that a company (such as PC) that claims (or used to claim) Christian ideals through a home-based business SHOULD let their employees know. It is not fair that these people (involved) were not told that the money they were contributing to the parent company, through their home based business, was going to a cause with which these people morally disagree.

AXO_Mom_3 -- sorry - I LOVE PARTYLITE too much :D

Well, some Christians believe that population control and respecting the resources that God gave us IS a Christian ideal. Abortion is not population control, and women who use it as such are repugnant. However, if my DQ butterscotch sundae that I had yesterday helps a desperate woman keep from becoming pregnant again, well, cool beans.

and I agree, before you get involved, find out something about the company before you are in too deep. I mean if you are an atheist and get involved with Mary Kay, you're going to feel very stupid very soon. ;)

My aunt was a PC consultant - I say was because this issue led to her resigning.

I think that we all have issues that we feel very strongly about. I feel strongly about abortion, so I will not purchase PC anymore. It also makes me sad because I will be giving up my weekly DQ ice cream cone... I do not feel so strongly about animal rights that I check every label of cosmetics I buy, (if something is known to treat animals cruelly or test on them then I stay away from that product, but I don't go on a huge boycott spree). While we cannot boycott everything, we can boycott those that affect our "pet issues" (as my grandfather calls them). Isn't this the way that we make a lot of our decisions, such as voting for leaders? We choose the one that lines up with how we believe. It only makes sense that we choose things in our every day lives the same way when we are able.

Here's the text of the email sent out last week to PC consultants, forwarded to me by my friend the PC consultant! Christin



----- Original Message -----
From: <web_mail@pamperedchef.com>
To: ((Consultant email deleted by Christin!))
Sent: Thursday, July 03, 2003 6:45 PM
Subject: Message from Doris Christopher


Dear Kitchen Consultants:

I have shared with you my pride in being a part of the Berkshire Hathaway family of businesses. I knew that this was the kind of family where The Pampered Chef would thrive and grow for years to come. I have also shared with you my feelings of respect for Warren Buffett.

Today, I am even more proud to call Warren my mentor, leader and friend.

This week I went to Warren with a heavy heart. I told him that many of our Kitchen Consultants were concerned and troubled with Berkshire Hathaway's donation policies - specifically the contributions to pro-choice organizations and to the Buffett Foundation. I knew that I could speak with Warren frankly and that he would want to hear of the issues impacting your business.

It troubled him deeply that charitable donations from Berkshire Hathaway were causing you difficulty. He listened to me carefully and with great compassion. He understands that as his family of Berkshire companies expands, it becomes more diverse, and there are opinions and concerns that need to be taken into consideration. Warren Buffett made a landmark decision regarding the long-standing corporate giving policies of Berkshire Hathaway. His decision was this:

Effective immediately, Berkshire Hathaway will cease all corporate contributions of any kind to any non-profit organization. This means there will be no donations from Berkshire Hathaway to the Buffett Foundation. Let me be clear, there will be no possibility of any Pampered Chef profits being donated to any cause other than those we initiate, including our three current charitable giving programs: Round-Up from the Heart, Help Whip Cancer and the Family Resiliency Program.

Warren Buffett made his landmark decision after hearing what was in my heart and in yours. I believe that Kitchen Consultants, hosts and customers are a diverse group of individuals with different opinions and beliefs. Our business is built on trust and on personal relationships. Warren understands our business and wants you to be successful in every way, able to do business with people of all backgrounds and beliefs.

I admire Warren Buffett for his heart and his insight. He is a wise leader!

Thank you for all you do to make this company strong.


Doris K. Christopher
Founder and Chairman

Good point! I guess that we do have our "pet issues" -- good way to put that, grandpa! :D

Christin - thank you SO MUCH for the info! That is exactly what I was wanting to see -- WB's opinion on the controversy. Thanks for getting that and offering it here!