Young Entrepreneur Adam Croman Talks Philanthropy

Adam Croman is the cofounder of the Eddie Croman Fund, a nonprofit organization that seeks to financially assist underserved families who cannot afford their pet’s vet bills. Although still a junior in high school, Adam acts as a dedicated philanthropist, he’s a regular champion of charity and volunteer work within his community for a multitude of causes. Adam has focused most of his philanthropic endeavors in two areas: helping animals and working with special needs children.

Adam grew up in a family of pet lovers, and has always had a special affinity for animals, especially dogs. Following the death of his family’s beloved pet dog - a Jack Russell Terrier named Eddie - Adam was compelled to create the Eddie Croman Fund as a way to honor his childhood best friend. Eddie died at age 17 after struggling with complications stemming from an irregular heartbeat. Eddie needed extensive care to prolong his life, including expensive medications and even a pacemaker. The Eddie Croman Fund assists animals whose families can’t afford such life-saving treatments.

Although the fund was originally created as a charitable project in conjunction with his Bar Mitzvah, Adam knew that there was an ongoing need for such support and so continues to operate and raise funds for the project. In fact, BluePearl Veterinary Partners in midtown Manhattan recently thanked Adam and his ongoing support via the Eddie Croman Fund by dedicating an exam room in memory of Eddie. The Eddie Croman Consultation Room features a 42-inch touch screen monitor, which allows veterinarians to better display X-rays and other diagnostic images, and thereby fully explain pets’ diagnoses to their owners.

Adam also volunteers at a local animal shelter, helping to walk and socialize stray rescue dogs and ultimately find them forever homes. He also works with special needs children by volunteering with the Friendship Circle and the Center for Hearing and Communication. When he’s not studying or actively helping others, he can be found playing one of his two favorite sports: soccer and tennis.

What advice would you give to other young people looking to make a difference in their communities?

I think the most important thing is to ensure that, whatever cause(s) you support, you’re driven by passion. You need to really care about seeing those changes unfold in the world. In my case, I have a very personal connection to nearly all the work I do. The impulse behind the Eddie Croman Fund was that I was moved by my own experiences with our family dog, Eddie, and his health struggles. I couldn’t imagine denying him the life-saving treatments he needed to live a longer, more comfortable life and didn’t want other people to face that same dilemma. Plus, I’m an avid animal lover, so my desire to provide better lives for the animals in my community has manifested in me continuing to operate the Fund, as well as volunteering at my neighborhood shelter.

The same goes for my work with the Friendship Circle. I was compelled to partner with them because of the amazing work they’re doing with autistic children. This is important to me because I have an 18-year-old cousin with autism, whom I’ve been very close to all my life. My feeling is that special needs kids often need more people in their lives who care. It’s harder for them to develop social relationships and the Friendship Circle facilitates those connections. Because my family has been impacted by this firsthand, it’s doubly rewarding for me to work with these children and watch their social skills and confidence grow.

What are the best resources for budding philanthropists?

After you identify the causes that are most meaningful to you, the best thing to do is to research the relevant national or local charities and nonprofits that address those causes. There are so many fantastic organizations out there already; in most cases it isn’t necessary to reinvent the wheel. Even if you want to do something that isn’t being done elsewhere, in most cases it works to partner with a related charity rather than start one from scratch.

When I created the Eddie Croman Fund, for example, I partnered with Frankie’s Friends, a national nonprofit dedicated to finding cures and saving pets with cancer and other life threatening conditions. Frankie’s Friends was able to help me get my efforts off the ground quickly and expertly and they still serve as the umbrella organization for the Eddie Croman Fund.

Likewise, when I decided I wanted to work with autistic children, I found the Friendship Circle, where I’ve volunteered for the past two years. From the start of my involvement with Friendship Circle, I knew that the organization was a perfect fit for me. I really loved what they were doing and I loved being able to form such strong friendships with the kids. Now, after two years of volunteering my time, I’m joining their Board, which allows me to become even more involved and, ultimately, shape the organization’s future goals and how we achieve them.

It must be hard to balance high school with so many outside interests and initiatives. What time management strategies do you practice?

The most important thing is to develop an awareness of how your time is spent in a typical day. Once you gain a better understanding of that, it’s much easier to assign yourself time limits on certain tasks. I don’t assign them to every task, especially because that can be easier said than done with homework assignments, but at a minimum I do it for activities that I can control, such as the time I spend managing my inbox and the time I invest in social media. Time restrictions like those help ensure that I’m not sidetracked and time limits on bigger tasks, like managing my philanthropic work, keep me from procrastinating.

I’m also a big fan of to-do lists. Every day I work through an incredibly detailed list of things to do. This helps me plan ahead, stay on-task, and the satisfaction I feel from crossing things off the list helps to keep me motivated.

I also take measures to eliminate unnecessary distractions when I’m working. I often turn off my Internet access when I’m working so I’m not distracted with constant notifications. I’ve even been known to switch off my phone on occasion.

Time management is easy to achieve when it’s viewed through the lens of prioritization. While I love to socialize and catch up on Game of Thrones as much as the next person, I often make sacrifices to accomplish my bigger picture goals. I’m always asking myself questions like, “Do I want to grab dinner with friends or improve someone else’s life?” The answer, of course, is both! But in order to achieve a good balance, sacrifice is definitely necessary.

What do you have planned for the future?

Definitely college and definitely philanthropy. I haven’t yet decided whether I’ll directly go into the non-profit space or not, but either way philanthropy and volunteerism have become such a huge and important part of my life, I’ll always be working to make things better for as many special kids and animals as possible.

What are the most rewarding aspects of your philanthropic endeavors?

That’s easy! There are so many rewards! In terms of the Eddie Croman Fund, I sometimes get to meet the pets that are benefitting from my fundraising efforts. It’s amazing to meet a dog with cancer or another serious illness who is facing death and know that you are giving them a second chance. Just as healthcare is an incredibly important issue for humans, animals face the same diseases and challenges we do. It feels good to be an advocate for these pets that don’t have the voice or the means to help themselves. And the impact my work has had on the affected pets’ families has been profoundly satisfying, too. Everytime I see a young boy with a sick dog I’m overwhelmed with gratitude that I’m able to make a difference for these families.

When it comes to my work with the Friendship Circle, the best part is, again, giving these children a voice. I don’t mean that politically; I’m not teaching them to fight for equality, although that would certainly be a valiant pursuit. The difference I’m making is that I’m providing the emotional support and the social skills necessary for them to build confidence and learn to better express themselves in their everyday lives. The kids I’ve worked with have become more self-sufficient, allowing their true abilities to surface. When you give an autistic child the emotional and social support they crave, they blossom in ways that are surprising and beyond what I would’ve ever imagined possible previously. It has been a life-changing experience.