'Secret Millionaire' Honors Murdered Employee With $100,000 Donation
In May 2011, branded merchandise agency BDA was holding a company retreat in Hawaii when the unthinkable happened: Susan Brockert, a longtime employee, was beaten to death by her husband. He was sentenced to life in prison for the crime. Two years later, the company's CEO is honoring her memory by putting some of his wealth toward fighting domestic violence.
On Sunday night's "Secret Millionaire" on ABC, chief executive Jay Deutsch traveled to Phoenix, Ariz., to meet with a number of nonprofits. He wound up volunteering -- incognito, of course -- with Cup O'Karma, a coffee shop that employs domestic violence survivors and puts proceeds toward helping women in need. Deutsch would wind up revealing his identity to the staff and gifting them with an incredible $100,000 donation.
"How can you not love this man," the coffee shop wrote on its Facebook page as the show aired.
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Cup O'Karma is run by the National Advocacy and Training Network, a nonprofit that provides various service to domestic violence survivors. MonaLou Callery, the group's founder, recounts how Deutsch was put right to work when he volunteered at the coffee shop.
"We put him behind the counter of this coffee shop, we showed him how to run the espresso machine, how to make a frappe, how to grind our coffee," she told the local ABC affiliate. As it turned out, he had a lot more to offer the group than just his coffee-making skills.
