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here's some good news:
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Couple gives $5M to Red Cross
Founders of Music World empire make largest private donation to Red Cross
CURTIS RUSH
STAFF REPORTER THESTAR.COM
His eyes getting red with every word, 89-year-old Kroum Pindoff finally couldn’t hold back the tears as he stood beside his wife, Eva, 79, who has been married to him for 60 years.
The founder of the Music World empire, Pindoff openly began sobbing in describing how the shocking images from the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia moved them to donate $5 million to the Canadian Red Cross today.
The announcement, which caught the Red Cross “totally off guard,” was made at a news conference in front of Music World at the Eaton Centre.
The $5 million was the largest private donation to a disaster relief effort ever received by the Canadian Red Cross, and the Pindoffs wanted to make sure the donation would qualify for the federal government’s matching program, which expires tomorrow.
Defence Minister Bill Graham, who was there for the announcement and called the two philanthropists who were born in war-torn Europe “an inspiration for all of us,” assured everyone that the federal government would now add $5 million to its relief efforts in Southest Asia.
A Red Cross official called them “Angels of Mercy.”
Gord Moore, general manager of the Red Cross in Ontario, said Pindoff has been “very emotional” about the images he has seen on television.
“He’s also being motivated by the federal government’s very generous matching opportunities. So it’s a $10 million contribution, not a $5 million contribution,” Moore said.
Pindoff was asked why he is so generous.
He talked of how “we’re getting older” and “we can’t take (the money) with us.”
Pindoff, who was born in Macedonia, is a man of such simple means that his last car was a 1990 Lexus, which he bought used. He has since given up his driver’s licence. Instead of taking a limo to work, he gets a staff member to pick him up.
Seeing the images of the children suffering, he said: “I can’t sleep at night. I don’t have peace of mind when I go to bed.”
With those words, the tears started flowing.
“There is so much suffering,” he said, sobbing, adding that people in this country have so much. “I believe in good. I came to Canada with very little.”
His wife Eva, who Pindoff called “second to none,” said she hopes that others will donate what they can to help.
“We hope today and tomorrow the Red Cross gets lots of calls,” Eva – who was born in Germany – said. “Everybody has to do what they can do. It has to come from yourself.”
The Red Cross has now raised $73 million from Canadians, said John Mulvihill, deputy Secretary General of the Canadian Red Cross.
About two weeks ago, Pindoff contributed $100,000 to the Red Cross to aid the victims in the Dec. 26 tsunami, which took the lives of tens of thousands.
But with those images of the victims coming into his home, he had trouble sleeping.
He phoned the Red Cross on Friday with another $500,000.
Still, he felt he should do more.
Yesterday, he had his investment advisor, Trevor Townsend, to inform Mulvihill that the Pindoffs would be donating $5 million.
Mulvihill, who was home at the time, was grateful for the news.
He was caught off guard but wasn’t totally surprised.
The Pindoffs had donated $5 million years ago to help the victims of land mine explosions around the world and the couple have contributed about $50 million to charitable causes over the years, the pair estimated.
The Pindoffs, who started their Music World empire by selling records from the back of a station wagon in 1960, continue to work, with Eva running the operations at Music World, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pindoff Record Sales, which is run by her husband.
From their condominium home, Pindoff goes off to work every day in Etobicoke. Although his gait is slowed by age, he also goes for a walk every day and instead of buying his own lunch he eats a sandwich and a tomato prepared every day by his wife.
“They understand what it is to be wealthy, but also understands that they live in times when they need to help others,” Mulvihill said. “It’s a remarkable act of charity.”
They have one daughter, but no grandchildren.
Defence Minister Graham said the couple have “come from Europe and circumstances of war and made money in this country and are giving it back to the world in a way that is an inspiration for all of us.”
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Palm Trees > Pine Trees , Sand > Snow
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