On Feb. 22, Warren Buffett highlighted the Stephen Center, a homeless shelter in his hometown, Omaha, Neb., in his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. The following Monday, the nonprofit was inundated with phone calls, a dramatic increase in website visitors and surging social media traffic.
“Let’s face it: this kind of opportunity, particularly from this kind of person, doesn’t happen often,” Chris Knauf, CEO of the Stephen Center, told Observer.
Buffett singled out the organization to benefit from the proceeds of 60 Years of Berkshire Hathaway, a book celebrating his firm’s 60th anniversary. Around 5,000 copies of the book, which includes previously unseen photos, quotes and stories of the late Berkshire vice chairman Charlie Munger, will be available for purchase at Berkshire’s annual shareholder meeting on May 2 and May 3.
But of those copies, 18 signed by Buffett and Carrie Sova, the book’s curator and a former Berkshire employee, will be offered exclusively to shareholders who contribute $5,000 or more to the Stephen Center. Every donation made to the nonprofit will be matched by Buffett dollar-for-dollar.
Sova’s grandfather, Bill Kizer, a longtime friend of Buffett’s, and his wife, Bunnie, were early supporters of the Steven Center, which serves homeless and low-income individuals across Omaha. The high-barrier shelter has never experienced this level of support during its more than four decades of operation, according to Knauf.
The Stephen Center’s services include programs like an emergency shelter, addiction recovery center and affordable housing units. Instead of just providing basic necessities, the shelter is focused on “equipping individuals with the resources necessary to get to a positive housing destination and a better life,” said Knauf.
Buffett’s initiative has already granted the nonprofit a sizable chunk of cash. Earlier this month, the Stephen Center offered the first eight signed copies of 60 Years of Berkshire Hathaway through an online auction held on its website. Each copy went for far more than $5,000, with final bids ranging from more than $20,000 to $100,000. With Buffett matching the total amount raised, the auction netted more than $620,000 for the shelter.
The remaining ten books will be auctioned off at the upcoming shareholder meeting. The titles will be available in-person at the Stephen Center’s booth in the CHI Health Center, the Omaha arena where Buffett’s conglomerate holds its annual gatherings.
Buffett’s gift to the Stephen Center will be transformative for the nonprofit and the more than 1,000 individuals it serves on an annual basis, said Knauf. Omaha has one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas of homeless populations. Last year saw this population increase by 10 percent, said the CEO, who noted that the proceeds from Buffett’s initiative will help the nonprofit as it builds a new shelter focused on expanding its services for women and children.
Buffett often singles out local nonprofits to benefit from his donations and has previously gifted seven-figure sums to Nebraska charities like Girls Inc. of Omaha. “There’s not a more beloved figure throughout Omaha than Mr. Buffett,” said Knauf. “And certainly Mr. Buffett loves Omaha back.”
