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GREENSBORO — The Greensboro Jewish Federation kicked off its 2008 fundraising campaign in a uniquely sweet way Sunday night — an ice cream social headlined by Ben & Jerry's co-founder Jerry Greenfield.

"I've only been here a day," Greenfield told the packed sanctuary at Temple Emanuel. "But it's so obvious you guys have an extraordinary community of caring."

Greenfield is a business maverick whose ice cream empire helped ignite a spirit of American corporate philanthropy and funneled millions of dollars into environmental and social charities. He was on hand to help encourage the crowd of about 300 federation members to give generously to fund the group's charity initiatives, which include sending needy children to summer camp and helping Ethiopian refugees reach Israel.

"He and Ben created the Ben & Jerry Foundation and have always been very tuned into giving back to their communities," said Deborah Kintzing, director of campaign and communication for the federation. "We're hoping the message will carry through to our members, and they'll help us accomplish our goals."

The group's goal for 2008 is larger than it's ever been — $1.75 million in donations. It may sound daunting, but Greenfield, who spent part of the day giving away ice cream at the Ben & Jerry's franchise at The Shops at Friendly Center, said he and lifelong friend Ben Cohen faced plenty of challenges when they started their business. They began with a used five-gallon ice cream machine, an old gas station and a bank loan and eventually made it an American success story and a force for good.

"Originally, the most powerful force there was in society was religion," Greenfield told the audience. "Then it was government, and now it's business. As this most powerful force, business has an amazing influence on our society. But what we learned at Ben & Jerry's is that there's a spiritual aspect to business."

Greenfield said he and Cohen grew up in the '60s, considered themselves hippies and began to feel uncomfortable when their tiny shop turned into a major business.

"We felt like our business was becoming just another cog in the economic machine, and we didn't like that," Greenfield said. "We decided to get out of the business."

Then a friend and restaurateur said something Greenfield found deceptively simple: "If there's something you don't like about business, why don't you change it?"

"We thought, 'If the problem is how we measure our success, why don't we change that?'" Greenfield said. "So we did. We changed the bottom line. It wasn't just how much money we make, but how much better we can make life in the communities where we operated."

The two started small, going public and selling stock locally in the Vermont community they served instead of taking money from venture capitalists. As their business grew, so did their philanthropic efforts, such as running stores owned by nonprofit social service agencies and, more recently, working with the World Wildlife Fund to open the Climate Change College to promote education about global warming.

Greenfield made the connection between philanthropy and business, telling the crowd that one is good for the other — and both are good for communities.

"We're all interconnected, and when we help others, we are helped," Greenfield said. "Just because that's written in the Bible and not a business textbook, it's no less true."

Contact Joe Killian at 883-4422, Ext. 228, or jkillian@news-record.com