The last weeks have been emotional for me, and steeped in irony. The story of the factory disaster in Bangladesh (and the death of more than 1,100 people) made me incredibly sad. A legally binding accord ( “Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh “) was quickly drafted and the largest European chains had signed on by Wednesday. A scant few US-based retailers (less than a dozen) joined the initiative. Abercrombie & Fitch, a firm that I might otherwise be ranting about over discriminatory comments made by their CEO, was one. All the rest appear to be hunkering down in opposition (with support from the National Retail Federation) for reasons that are frankly lost on me.

[Editor’s Note: On May 31, under continued pressure from consumer and worker rights groups, several US retailers including Walmart and Gap announced a working committee chartered with creating an alternative Bangladesh safety program. Details remain unclear as of this writing].

On the flip side, the technology vendor community serving the retail ecosystem has been actively working to improve the lives of children and women at risk around the world for several years. During the first day of SapphireNow last week in Orlando more than 1,000 attendees worked as volunteers to package 145,000 meals to help feed vulnerable children in Sierra Leone in Africa through the Food for Orphans and the Retail Orphan Initiative (RetailROI). Competitors Oracle and Epicor have sold thousands of bears in partnership with Build-a-Bear Workshop at the NRF Big Show for several years to benefit the RetailROI charity. HP and Intel, through their sponsorship of the RetailROI SuperSaturday event before NRF combined to build a school for 216 orphaned children in Liberia. All the major analyst firms and retail publications have been proud participants in RetailROI’s SuperSaturday event since its inception and have also sent people on RetailROI’s trips to help women and children at risk. RIS News “Rock and Roll Retail ” event at NRF’s Big Show donates its profits to RetailROI. Through Vicki Cantrell, the NRF has also added its support to RetailROI. Ms. Cantrell has gone on multiple trips to Honduras, and has brought RetailROI to the attention of the highest levels of NRF.

As I pondered both sides of this equation, I couldn’t help but think that as quickly as the vendor community is working to make a dent in the horrible problem of orphans and women at risk, the retail industry is creating new ones for us to take care of. Somehow that just seems wrong.

I asked Greg Buzek, the heart, soul and co-founder of RetailROI what percent of its funds come from Retailers. The answer? Point five percent of the $375,000 being raised per year come directly from retailers. Over 130,000 children have been helped in the last 4 years through RetailROI, but that financially has almost all come from the technology VENDOR community.

We know from our benchmark surveys that retailers tend to be deficient in performing factory audits, even of their private label merchandise, what to speak of factory conditions. I understand the goal is to keep costs down. And while retailers clearly fret over the quality of their goods (it’s consistently ranked a top-three business challenge when we perform PLM benchmark surveys) we have a horrible history when it comes to fretting about the people making those goods. Let’s not forget the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City in 1911. It is ranked as the fourth worst industrial accident in US history. After that fire, laws were enacted to ensure a disaster of that magnitude would never occur in this country again. But let’s look at the numbers: 146 people died in the blaze. That’s about a tenth of the number that died in Bangladesh. In fact, the World Trade Center bombings, which were devastating to our country and national morale and changed our collective lives forever, killed a total of 2,753. That’s barely twice the number killed in that one Bangladeshi fire.

What does that tell us? In the US, life is precious. I’ve lived in India. I understand that on many levels, life is not quite as collectively precious. But you look into the eyes of a hungry child, or read the story about a woman hovering outside the Bangladesh factory hoping to find the body of her 20 year old daughter and you understand that human life is absolutely precious, wherever we may live.

I don’t think I can influence you to alter sourcing practices. Heaven knows, better people than I have tried. We’ve always chased low cost supply. That’s just what we (mostly) do. But I’m hoping I can influence you to follow the lead of your vendor community, and think about at least helping orphans, some of whom we might hold some responsibility for. Maybe balance the scales just a little bit. RetailROI is here, and has already helped thousands. Your vendors have led the charge. Are you ready to join them? In full disclosure, I am on the RetailROI advisory board. And so I’d love for you to help.

I know that individually, the US is a kind and generous people. But put us in corporations and we seem to turn into a strange and far less compassionate breed. But we can be better. There are many ways for businesses to get involved. You can find out more here

http://www.retailroi.org/how-to-get-involved/get-involved.

I’ll continue hoping we find a more robust collective conscience, one that values human life above corporate profits. In the meanwhile, all I can do is ask you to help clean up the mess. We didn’t make all the messes, I know that. But we can fix some. How about it? Get involved. Collectively, let’s get involved and make a difference.