Ira Riklis Blog

It’s summer, when most Americans take vacations (of course many others, including avid skier Ira Riklis, take winter vacations as well). And while we’re making plans, traveling and enjoying the warm weather, few of us stop to think about donating blood. The summer season also sees a great reduction in the number of high school and college blood drives, which account for some 15 percent of yearly donations in our country. But the need for blood, which is surprisingly high year round, is often even higher in the summer.

Regular donors, including Ira Riklis, strongly urge people to take time to donate blood at sometime during the summer months. An hour of your time can help save the lives of others. As the LifeSource organization notes: “Every day is a good day to donate blood.” After all, three gallons of blood are used every minute in the U.S. And with decreased donations in summer, levels of blood reserves frequently fall to dangerously low levels.

Ira Riklis still misses Dr. William Zucker, who passed away in 2006. Dr. Zucker was not only his advisor and mentor while he was in graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, but who went on to become a dear, lifelong friend. While many business and economic professors focus on theory and academic learning, Dr. Zucker was well-known and well-appreciated by his students for applying his classroom teachings to real-life situations.

He particularly focused on promoting an entrepreneurial spirit in classes, which included “Entrepreneurial Decision Making and Land Development,” and “Entrepreneurial Inner-City Housing Markets.” The work placed exhaustive requirements on the young, aspiring entrepreneurs who took them. But those who persisted were rewarded for their efforts by gaining a deep theoretical and practical knowledge of what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. It was in gratitude for his long relationship with Dr. Zucker that Ira Riklis recently endowed the Dr. William Zucker Entrepreneurial Intern Fellowship so that new generations of students can enjoy similar experiences and successes.

It’s a fact of life that’s probably as old as human civilization: even in the most-vibrant cities, there are pockets of poverty. It’s that way in every large U.S. city, and Ira Riklis can tell you that it’s true in Tel Aviv, Israel. Set on the beautiful shores of the Mediterranean, Israel’s second-largest city vibrates with life. There, you’ll find a lively arts scene, fine dining, world-class museums, parks and beaches. It’s also the center of Israeli business and commerce.

But away from the centers of art, culture and commerce, forty percent of those in Tel Aviv neighborhoods live in poverty. That’s why Ira Riklis and his family feel so strongly about their support for The American Friends of the Tel Aviv Foundation. The group engages donors in projects to improve life in the neediest areas of the city. They seek to create new opportunities for growth in all aspects of life from education, the environment and social service to the arts and sports.

Put a lid on it! Those five words sum up one of the easiest and most effective way to reduce bicycle-related trauma and death: always wear a properly fitted helmet when riding. Unfortunately, it’s often simple things like this that most often get overlooked. For those tempted to ignore the advice, Ira Riklis has one world: Don’t! He became aware of the importance of helmets more than 16 years ago when a child safety group came to him asking for help in providing helmets to local children.

From them, he learned that in 90% of bicycle-related deaths the victims were not wearing helmets and that helmets can reduce the risk of serous head injuries by nearly 90%. For Ira Riklis, the math was simple. He agreed to help the group in distributing and fitting 5,000 helmets for local kids. And ever since that time, he’s been a strong proponent in both urging others to wear helmets and in setting a good example by wearing them himself.