As a young teacher working at an elementary school in North Philadelphia, it used to break Karen Cohen’s heart to see students from needy families come to class wearing the same clothes every day. Even though she was just starting out in her career and didn’t have much money herself, she found a way to help, borrowing used items from family members to give to the children.
Thirty years later, that charitable spirit is as strong as ever in Cohen. The only difference is that her efforts have increased considerably: She’s not just helping people in her hometown, but halfway across the globe.
“I always had it in my heart to give,” Cohen says. “I’m blessed now that I can give more.”
After three-plus decades in education, including 16 years in South Jersey at the Katz Jewish Community Center, Cohen planned on a relaxing retirement spent with her husband and two kids. When her father passed away unexpectedly, however, she turned to travel as a way to regroup and heal, and it was during a visit to Africa in August 2023 that she found her new purpose.
Capping a three-week trip to South Africa with a stop in Madagascar, the getaway proved to be life altering.
“What I saw changed everything: It changed my outlook on the world and my life,” she says. “We take for granted how we live and what we have. When I saw how these tribal people lived, I couldn’t believe it. I realized that if no one is allowing these people to have clean water, clothes, etc., then someone needs to do something. So I thought, well I’m retired, I can do something.”
Cohen started small. After returning home to Marlton, she kept in touch with her tour guide on the trip, a man named Theo, who shared that kids at his local school were in desperate need of footwear. So she collected 300 pairs of flip flops and returned to Madagascar that October to personally deliver them.
“I was so elated by how excited these kids got over flip flops,” she says. “They didn’t care about the color, they didn’t even care if they were too small. It was like the best thing that ever happened to them, because it was the first time in their lives that they received a gift, of anything.”
When Cohen got back after her second trip, her friends and family encouraged her to raise even more money and to start a foundation, and Philawell was born. Her nonprofit—whose name is a combination of her hometown of Philadelphia and the need for wells in the Mandrare River Camp to provide fresh water—now provides everything from clothes, toiletries and flip flops to school supplies, including laptops, to Madagascar’s Antandroy people and schools in need.
Fresh water is the priority, which is why Philawell has already built two rain-sustainable wells that provide an abundance of water to the camp as long as the rain is coming steadily. During times of drought, however, like the current dry season, the people struggle, so Philawell is leading a project to build more wells and a piping system closer to the river.
The new wells won’t be done until March, so Cohen is planning to return to Madagascar in the spring to see the completed project, and to bring the many boxes of clothes and other items she will have collected by then.
“Theo makes it clear to me that nobody bothers to help these people,” she says. “As soon as I heard that, I knew it was going to change.”
Cohen raises funds by selling vanilla extract kits at local craft fairs with the vanilla beans Madagascar is known for. She also gives her own money and accepts donations on her website, Philawell.org.
The progress she has made in a short time is impressive, but she doesn’t want attention for herself, just anyone who may be in need.
“My friends tell me I’m inspiring,” she says. “I don’t take compliments well, but I think that’s good. Hopefully I can inspire them to do something, too.”
Philawell
Marlton
Philawell.org
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Published and copyrighted in South Jersey Magazine, Volume 21, Issue 7 (October 2024)
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