Kal Rudman - Guardian Angel

Kal Rudman, a broadcast industry pioneer, puts his money where his heart is. In one of the worst neighborhoods in Philadelphia, he pays for a mentoring and scholarship program at St. Christopher’s Hospital aimed at economically disadvantaged and at-risk high school students - getting them to graduate, attend college, excel academically and find employment in the healthcare field.

How much has he spent of this and other philanthropic projects? As fast as it came in he gave it away. Every penny goes to worthy causes. Kal writes the checks himself.

To appreciate the philanthropic motivation of Rudman, it’s not a bad idea to ask some very simple questions: Who pays for the free fire detectors that the Fire Department installs for the poor and the elderly? Where does much of the money come from to post the rewards offered for tips by the Crime Commission of Philadelphia? When the city’s police dogs were getting sick because they needed better facilities for their care, who paid for it? Many times, if a house of worship, or a school - any faith, any local district - is vandalized or destroyed, who writes the check that gets the place over the hump and gets the fix-up started? If cops or firemen want to go to college to finish a degree, or earn one, in important majors like criminal justice or fire science, and there’s no money to pay for it, who comes up with scholarships? When bullet-proof vests, or motorcycles, or anything else for the police wears out, where do the new ones come from? Ten years ago when the School District of Philadelphia and St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children needed an angel to help underwrite Health Tech, one of the great success stories in public education, anywhere in the country, who did the district turn to?

These aren’t trick questions, but they all do have the same answer: Kal Rudman. He moves in basic, meat-and-potatoes, unheralded ways to make good things happen and bad stuff go away, at least for a little while. It is the innate signature of a profoundly humble man. “ ‘Why do I do it?’” he responds to a question. “All those things needed to be done. The work is never finished. All I do is connect the dots.”
All that Rudman has ever asked in return is that the beneficiaries of his extraordinary generosity work with him and care as much as he does.

“It’s a pleasure to respond to people who want to work with you; people who aren’t afraid to connect with you. I pay attention to everything. In the end, money, including my money, is always portable, it can move around.”

Submitted by mzlevy
June 27, 2007