The Cable Company's Phenomenal CARE Program Runs Through August 31

The Cable Company's 23rd annual "Summer of Hunger" CARE campaign, which extends through August 31, donates up to 100% of purchase cost directly to the CARE. Made possible by agreements between The Cable Company (1-800-FATWYRE) and 70 of its cable, audio, and headphone brands, the charitable program expects to donate up to $300,000 to CARE by the end of the month.

"We picked CARE because they're incredibly efficient for a large charity—they have only 10% overhead—and are well known among audiophiles," says Robert Stein, founder of The Cable Company. "They've also become known as one of the primary first in and last out organizations, because they work on sustainable development programs, and respond to both natural and human-made disasters. They're really pretty incredible."

For the past three years, "Summer of Hunger" has contributed to CARE's food security program in Southern Africa. By supporting best agricultural practices, the program helps farmers plant crops suitable to Africa's rapidly changing climate. The Cable Company is one of the primary sources of private funding for a program that has affected the lives of over 8 million people.

"It's pretty cool that this little audio company and these small audio manufacturers can have such a big effect on so many people," Stein told Stereophile by low-tech phone.

I'd take it one step farther. Summer of Hunger, a one-of-a-kind, win-win program that enables audiophiles of vision to extend the pursuit of high performance audio beyond the personal realm, to a level where it affects the larger good. It's a win-win for everyone.

Stein has ingeniously structured the month-long charitable program as "a match on a match on a match on a match." If someone purchases products from this year's 70 participating companies, a combination of donations to CARE from The Cable Company and the manufacturer, matching funds from an anonymous donor, and large additional chunk from one or more third-party donor—this year, the European Union, USAID, DFID (the UK's Department for International Development), and The Gates Foundation—results in a contribution equivalent to the entire purchase price. Some years, in fact, third-party donors have given so much in matching funds that donations have actually exceeded the purchase price! Even if you contact The Cable Company to purchase from a brand that is not a sponsor, CARE ends up with a 50% donation.

"We're hoping that, by the end of August, our 23-year contribution total to CARE will exceed $5 million," Stein explained. "When we started out, the program was mainly sponsored by cable manufacturers. Now we've got five of the world's top high-end headphone manufacturers onboard, including Abyss (a longtime sponsor), Focal, Audeze, Mr. Speakers, and Sonoma. We also have a number of major component manufacturers, including Harbeth, Chord, Clearaudio, Hana, PSAudio, Mytek, Wolf, Sutherland, REL, and Rogers."

80% of Summer of Hunger sponsors are US-based; the rest are from Canada, Japan, Korea and Europe, including the UK, Germany and France." Additional support comes via program ad comps from Stereophile, The Absolute Sound, and a number of online publications, including AudioStream and InnerFidelity.

The original inspiration for The Cable Company's CARE program was Paul Newman's decision to turn his food business into a charitable enterprise. Tom's of Maine is another company that, at its inception, gave a substantial portion of its profits to charity.

"I like the idea of running a serious business and still doing good things," says Stein. "The program is good for our business, and it's also good for the planet. It's even good for our staff. Everyone has to work harder in August, but morale increases because everyone knows how much good they're doing."

Audiophiles wishing to support CARE may find additional reason to do so in month-long specials offered by select participating manufacturers. Through August 31, the Audio Desk Systeme Vinyl Cleaner Pro is $1000 off, which still results in a $3499 contribution to CARE. A purchase of Focal Utopia headphones includes a free $1300 Questyle Q2PR portable DAC amp, and AudioQuest's Carbon series headphones are $300 off. Synergistic Research is offering a buy two sets of HFTs, get one free incentive, and Bybee Technologies a buy three Quantum signal enhancers, get a fourth free special. Offers from cable companies include 40% off High Fidelity Cables' top series, 20% off WyWires two entry-level series, 15–20% off three offerings from DH Labs, and 50% off Purist Audio Design burn-in software.

"The program's one great failing is that I've never had anyone copy it," said Stein. "I always thought that it works so well that other industries would copy it, but no one has."

Anton's picture

That is a profoundly great program.

Kudos above kudos to them.

ok's picture

people don't you understand
the child needs a helping hand
or he'll grow to be an angry young man
some day?

Jason Victor Serinus's picture

I think it's far more basic than that. People who are putting profit above all else are accelerating global warming to such an extent that without programs like CARE, millions upon millions of people will never grow up. They will die. Those that survive, however, may very well end up very, very angry.

ednazarko's picture

I've read a few reports now from the Pentagon and a couple of the military services. They assess climate change as being the biggest strategic threat they face. Not just because we'll lose a lot of bases to sea level rise (a couple of them are already endangered) or what the more extreme weather will do to purely land bases. They are VERY clear that millions of people being pushed out of their homelands by rising seas, extreme weather, and hunger will make the current European migrant crisis look like a minor inconvenience, and there's no military solution to that.

The CableCo's annual promo is a very effective way to pull money from my pockets. Usually the time and money I contribute only has a theoretical reward for me.

dalethorn's picture

I dodged Irma last year and Matthew the year before that, but this year we decided to stay, just south of Charleston. We were very, very lucky this time, unlike the poor souls in North Carolina. I could be imagining it, but the frequency and intensity of these things is no coincidence. Many people are fooled by numbers - statistics, showing instances where one storm a few years ago had higher wind speeds or whatever. But there is so much more than wind statistics - these monsters are getting bigger, more frequent, and they stay around longer. I hope your friends and readers are not one-note or two-note issue thinkers on these things, because we have to get to work on prevention.

Bogolu Haranath's picture

"I do not do great things ....... I do small things with great love" ......... Mother Teresa ......

Bogolu Haranath's picture

"If you haven't got any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble" ........... Bob Hope .........