How it Started
THE SUM FOUNDATION'S philosophy:
“I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness or ability that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again”.
Thomas Paine
THE SUM FOUNDATION was established on the basis of the founder’s own difficult childhood and problematic youth. During this stretch of time, he was inadequately prepared for life ahead. As a result, he suffered many humiliating disadvantages.
Later, in adulthood he was able, through a good deal of soul-searching, hard work, and luck, to recover from the shortcomings and deficiencies he encountered.
To express his gratitude for the positive turn of events in his later life, he felt inspired and motivated to start a foundation that would provide disadvantaged children and young adults the very things he himself was deprived of; namely guidance, direction, understanding, love, connection, and protection.
Those are some of the basic needs that parents and guardians must provide.
Parents function in a GIVING MODE, children function in a RECEIVING MODE.
It’s a fundamental law of nature and duty of all members of society to provide for the needs of its young, and prepare them for the challenges of life.
As per Hillary Clinton: “It takes a village to raise a child”.
THE SUM FOUNDATION plans to focus not only on the physical aspect of people's lives, but also on their spiritual/emotional part, for this is the most neglected part of human affairs. We believe that starts with Child Care. The good that happens in a child's home and school, by extension, happens in the community, the state, the country and the world.
Our Goal
Our goal is to secure a peaceful society, that knows how to get along, and resolve its differences through collaboration and cooperation. We need to focus our attention on what happens in people's childhoods, for that gives us a clue what to expect from them thereafter.
Name Origin
The word SUM, is a German acronym that stands for:
Seid Umschlungen, Millionen, which means, “Be Embraced, Ye Millions”.
That acronym happens to spell the English word “SUM” which takes on the same meaning as the German words, namely, “The Sum of All People And All Their Concerns”.
The “U”, which is enlarged in the logo stands for: us, united, unity, you, and universal.
The German words come from Friedrich Schiller’s “Ode to Joy” poem, which was set to music by Ludwig van Beethoven, who was so inspired by it, that he decided to memorialize it in his last symphony, The Ninth. The choral part of the 4th movement of the 9TH symphony became in 1972 the official European Union anthem.
The overall message of both the poem and the music is a call for world peace, freedom, unity, and human partnership.
The SUM Foundation shares those same ideals.