You Are a Philanthropist

 

(Local orphan boys sitting in front of the Daraja sign)

Recently I have been reading about the push to get billionaires to donate half their fortune to charity led by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. Most recently 17 billionaires have signed up, pledging to give at least half of their fortune to charity either during their lifetime or after their death.  I am extremely encouraged by this.  This is a necessary step in the right direction.

The fact that these people are Billionaires is great because it means a HUGE amount of money will be going to charity to help make this world a better place.  More important than the money however is the mindset.  Every person should be making sacrifices and giving back.  Not just billionaires.  The fact is, speaking practically, for those billionaires having  500 million dollars is not a lot different than having billion dollars.  Either way you have more money than you know what to do with.  Not much of a sacrifice…but its a step in the right direction.  Reminds me of both a Chris Rock quote and a passage from the bible (both of which you will find at the end of this rant).

A more important step I think is getting the average person thinking like this.  I don’t mean giving away half of what you have.  For most of us this isn’t practical at all, its hard enough making ends meet.  The goal is to changing our way of thinking.  We should all be doing our part to make this world a better place.  This could be choosing NOT to spend $300 on a handbag and instead donating the money to charity, taking the money you would be spending on a pair of jeans and sending a child to school, or just spending one day a month volunteering at a local soup kitchen.

I am willing to bet that if you are the type of person who is willing to read through this whole boring blog about philanthropy you are also the type who will feel your life enriched by empowering yourself to help others. 

Check out the Giving Pledge.

Donate to Daraja Academy

Or Help me with my project with the Nanyuki Street boys.

 

“If Bill Gates woke up one day with Oprah money he would jump out a ****ing window”

-Chris Rock

The Widow’s Offering

⁴¹ Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. ⁴² But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

⁴³ Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. ⁴⁴ They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

Mark 12:41-44 (New International Version, ©2010)