Christmastime, aside from its religious aspects, is a good time to celebrate family and the kind of philanthropy exhibited by a transformed Ebenezer Scrooge and his gift of a fat holiday goose to the Cratchits.
The tale, of course, was Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”
This is really the one time of year when many people generously open their hearts and wallets to those less fortunate, perhaps recognizing that we’re all in this life together and headed to the same end regardless of our earthly resources.
In that vein, we urge Coloradans to give generously to their favorite charities this holiday season.
We as a nation are rather generous, opening our pocketbooks to educational, religious and other causes. This year alone, there have been some outstanding examples of philanthropy.
Starting in 2009, every child born in Maine will be eligible for $500 toward a college education, thanks to the generosity of shoe magnate Harold Alfond, who died there last month. Before his death, Alfond arranged for his philanthropic foundation to give out the grants. What could be more important to a parent? By adding just $50 a month to an account, parents could raise some $25,000 for a child by 2026.
In Wisconsin, retired Cisco Systems chairman John Morgridge and his wife Tashia launched an educational scholarship fund with $175 million for low-income public high school graduates planning to attend college. Grants of between $1,000 and $5,000 will be available for about 2,000 students next year.
But philanthropy doesn’t have to mean humongous endowments and millions of dollars in donations. Dickens underscored that point with Scrooge and the goose. Philanthropy is altruism in many forms, whether giving of oneself through volunteerism, donating food and clothing to a local shelter or giving a few dollars.
This has been a tough year for many Americans, with economic uncertainty, higher fuel prices and homebuyers caught in the subprime housing loan mess, many in Colorado included.
Some charitable organizations are reporting a decline in donations from last year, even while demand for food and other necessities has increased. And those who are giving are giving smaller donations than before. Salvation Army bell-ringers across the country are reporting a drop in donations to their big red kettles.
Those of us able to help ought to keep in mind that our donations to charitable organizations benefit our community as a whole, not just the hungry and homeless, although that alone is enough.
We urge all Coloradans in the position to do so to help a worthy cause this holiday season.
