TALKING IT OVER
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
October 27,
1999
Last week at the White House, I met some real heroes -- people who
understand the importance of giving.
After seeing news accounts of the
refugee crisis in Yugoslavia, 10-year-old Gil Castellanos wanted to help, so he
created "Simply from the Heart," an effort to raise $1 from each resident of
his hometown, Elmhurst, Ill. Matthew Nonnemacher, of Hazelton, Penn., was also
10 when he launched a drive to collect pennies for the poor. His total: 1.8
million, or $18,000.
At the age of 78, Matel Dawson still spends over 80 hours a week
operating a forklift at the Ford Motor Company, just as he has for 59 years.
Over the last eight years, Mat has given away $1 million, mostly helping
college students complete their education. Asked why he continues to work so
hard, Mat responds, "I need the money. I need it to give away."
The Rev. Ann Pearson inherited $1,000 from her Uncle John. Hoping to
inspire an ethic of caring in others, she decided to give each of her
parishioners $10 that they, in turn, would give away. What Ann found was that
the money grew as enthusiastic donors brought new opportunities and ideas for
community service into the church and requested support for additional giving.
Giving has always been an important tradition in this country. More
than a hundred years ago, political observer Alexis de Tocqueville said that
charity in America is more than simple compassion. It is a sign of good
citizenship. He wrote, "Americans make great and real sacrifices to the public
welfare. They hardly ever fail to lend faithful support to one another."
I have been privileged to travel to many of the world's newest
democracies -- places where people are just beginning to understand both the
benefits and the responsibilities of freedom. Everywhere I go, someone asks me
how the United States has been able to make its democracy work for so many
years.
Our democracy thrives, I reply, not just because we enjoy free
elections and free markets, it also thrives because our citizens are the most
generous in the world, both with their time, and with their resources.
Our democracy thrives because of people like Gil and Matthew, Matel and
Ann. Our democracy thrives because of people like Osceola McCarty. Osceola
spent a lifetime washing, starching and ironing other people's clothes. She
lived simply and frugally. Four years ago, she decided to use her life savings
to endow a scholarship fund at a nearby university. "I'm giving it away so that
the children won't have to work so hard like I did," she explained. At the age
of 91, Osceola passed away, but her generous spirit lives on.
In order to honor "heroes" like these, and to highlight the American
tradition of giving, the President and I hosted the first-ever White House
Conference on Philanthropy last week. We listened as donors, young people,
policy experts and representatives of non-profits, foundations and educational
programs discussed the diverse and changing face of philanthropy, and explored
how best to preserve and expand this valuable tradition.
There has never been a better time to take a look at philanthropy in
this country. We are living in a period of unprecedented prosperity, a time
when the new economy has produced new wealth and the Baby Boom generation
stands poised to inherit $12 trillion from their parents.
Although dramatic gifts from a new group of donors, many of whom have
made their fortunes in the technology boom, have drawn new attention to giving,
Osceola, Gil, Matthew, Matel and Ann prove every day that philanthropy is not
just for the wealthy. As a matter of fact, the face of giving in this country
is almost as diverse as the population itself.
Last year, donations to charitable causes reached a new high, totaling
nearly $150 billion. Individuals accounted for 85 percent of that amount, up a
third since 1995. As a percent of our gross national product, total giving
exceeded 2 percent last year, the highest level since 1971.
This is all great news, but I can't help but wonder what we could do as
a nation if we increased our giving even more.
Imagine this: If we increased our giving by just 1 percent, we could
offer child care to more than 6 million children, deliver 250 million more
meals to the homebound elderly, and guarantee Head Start to every low-income
preschooler in America. We could provide shelter to 4 million people, save all
the rare books in our libraries, and still have more than enough money left
over to create the equivalent of a Ford Foundation each year.
As we move toward the new century, the President and I have asked every
American to identify the gifts they can make for the future. There is no better
gift our generation can give than creating an even stronger philanthropic
tradition.
To find out more about Hillary Rodham Clinton and read her past
columns, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at
www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 1999 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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