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Fred Teichert
Executive Director, Teichert Foundation

The Teichert Foundation was founded as a charitable organization by long-time Sacramento firm Teichert, Inc. (est. 1887). The Foundation currently supports Northern California youth development projects.


Favorites

Web site:	rotarysacramento.com and www.alibris.com
Software:	Microsoft Word
Technogadget:	Dazy Stripper, the best little gadget—it deletes potato peels
Movie:	A Beautiful Mind, I saw it twice
Book:	Instructions to the Cook by Bernard Glassman
CD:	Braziliana by Serge Mendes

Why is it so important for businesses to support the community?

I think the quality of life in the community directly affects our ability to do business in the first place. I think if we don’t have an educated work force, if we don’t have kids that learn how to get along with each other, work on teams, accomplish projects, have a stake in the system, we’ll be short-term. Our company has been around for 115 years and so we’re sort of imbued with a long-term view of things. And I think community work, whether it’s in the arts, environmental concerns or youth development, is all part of the future of not just the company, but also the people in it.

What project has made the biggest impact on the community from the Teichert Foundation?

I would say the Boys and Girls Club. Sacramento was the only capitol city in the country that did not have a Boys and Girls Club. And it was the largest city that didn’t have a Boys and Girls Club. That was probably the most significant single project of the Teichert Foundation and there were many people that worked on it.

What advice would you give other companies who want to make a difference in the community?

Give back to the community. Discover a fundamental issue that causes serious concerns within the community. For instance, in the case of Boys and Girls Club, if you have youngsters that feel totally disenfranchised from the community, you’ll have health problems, work problems, school problems, and home problems. So establishing a Boys and Girls Club that offers youth development programs was a response to that fundamental issue. If a company can pick one fundamental issue, really put enough into it and leverage it, and if we all did that with the issues we cared about, this would be a very different place.

Find something that you really care about. Avoid the trap of doing something that you think is going to advance your company’s image because if you don’t care about it, you many not get the reaction you expected. Whereas if it is something that is making a difference, and you care about it, the recognition doesn’t matter. Sometimes you get recognized and sometimes you don’t. Also many times you may give an amount that you don’t realize makes a difference. We have a relatively small Foundation. Our gifts are five to seven thousand dollars on the average. And yet, there are a lot of places where that makes a big difference. So you don’t have to think if you’re not the Ford Foundation, you can’t make a difference.

Do you see the Internet as a tool in any of your projects?

I think it’s much more of a tool than I’ve used it for so far. The Internet still has a sense of newness for me. Two of my children make their living in Internet related businesses. They try not to be too impatient with me as I plod along with my kitchen gadgets instead of computer widgets.

Why are you focusing on youth development projects?

I was a teacher for four years before I went into business, which seems to explain some interest. But the most definitive interest came from my experience as a single parent that began when my three daughters were in first, second and third grades. Raising three girls as a single parent gave me a real gut-level sense of what it takes to parent. It’s not just difficult; it’s scary and dangerous. Even with resources, it’s very tough. One of the resources I would have loved to have for the kids was a place like the Boys and Girls Club. A place for them to go and you’d know they’d be having a good time; and they’d be safe and getting their homework done. I think if you have resources, parenting is much easier. In the course of my single days, I met an awful lot of people that I think, were practically heroic in their ability to manage children and work and some kind of life for themselves. Many of who had few resources, it was just remarkable. It really gives you a huge admiration for some people.

Where do you see yourself five years from now?

I’m hoping the Foundation will be much larger. I really love this job. I’d love to be doing the same thing I’m doing except more of it. I’m not feeling like I’d be happier if only I could do this other thing, because I’m really feeling very happy about this opportunity. This is such a great job. I hope I’ll be wiser and I’m sure I’ll be different. Also having recently recovered from some health problems, I plan on getting back on the exercise track. So I’ll be much more fit in five years.

How do you unwind and relax?

I like to cook a nice dinner for my family. And my wife loves television, so I’ve gotten to watch West Wing and Law and Order, which have become my two TV shows. I find them very relaxing. I also like to read. And since I’ll be doing a lot more exercising, I’m hoping I’ll find some relaxation in that.

What is your personal philosophy?

Fundamentally, we are all in this together and we are united, but not in visible ways. Earlier in my life, I was very religious. One position that I kept from that part of my life was a concept in Christianity that if we are all God’s children and as such we have certain relationships with each other. As a result, we’re all linked, that is we have a kind of fraternal obligation to each other. I don’t have a creed or a set of affirmations that I recite over and over. But, I do feel a strong sense that we’re here to look out for each other in a large way and that each of us has a different part to play with a different gift that can be expressed.