<p>I agree that the strides made by Ghana to combat hunger is amazing.
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<p>Of course I don’t see the US encouraging the raising of squirrels/rats for food either.
( In Ghana call them grasscutters or ratonastick)
[New</a> Horizons](<a href=“http://www.eclof.org/archiv/english/newhorizon/nheng34/mc09.htm]New”>http://www.eclof.org/archiv/english/newhorizon/nheng34/mc09.htm)</p>
<p>Wow, what an amazing family. Most of us will never come close to being that generous with our time or money. The world would not be in the mess it is if more people were like these folks.</p>
<p>sounds like a good program
[Charity</a> Navigator Rating - The Hunger Project](<a href=“http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=6427]Charity”>Charity Navigator - Rating for The Hunger Project)</p>
<p>I think that what they did is generous and selfless. Charity is charity, there’s a good argument for it being spent where it will do the most good (Ghana is pretty ahead of America on that metric), and frankly, these people just gave a huge amount. I’m not going to insult them for it - it’s better than nothing.</p>
<p>I’m not sure I like their grabbing some fame out of it, but those slightly negative feelings are vastly outweighed by the positives ones about the reality of giving $1.8 million to charity. And as for tax exemption, well, it applies to all charity, because all charity involves giving up income in return for essentially nothing. It’s not fleecing America for charity to be tax exempt.</p>
<p>It’s hard to say when someone appears in the news whether they ‘sought out’ the publicity (maybe in this case, hard to tell). Even if they did, perhaps the hope was to inspire others to take a similar path.</p>
<p>I think the focus on the children’s part in the story does not ignore the obvious fact that it was the parents’ hard work (presumably) which produced the money for the house. Their actions were highlighted because encouraging one’s parents to do something like that is somewhat of an anomaly in the current, fairly materialistic teen culture.</p>
<p>As to whether the decision to give their charitable money to Ghana was the best choice-- perhaps their decision was based on the fact that Ghana is one of the most politically stable countries in Africa, and they thought that there would be a greater likelihood that the money would have a long-term benefit, since the country is moving forward.</p>
<p>As stated above, each individual makes a personal decision about their charitable donations. One person might make the “contribue to your home country” first argument. Others might say that they would prefer to contribute to a country in which girls (and boys) often leave school before puberty (if they go at all), clean water is still an issue and rural families live in huts, despite nearby gold mining (e.g., Ghana). </p>
<p>Also in line w/the personal choice of a charitable action–it could be argued that “giving money to a needy person on the street” is less helpful to that individual (particularly if they suffer from a substance abuse or mental health issue) than it is to contribute to a reputable, well-run organization which works to address the underlying issues faced by that needy person. But, again the choice on how/when to contribute is “personal” – hopefully no one would disparage the person how gives directly to the needy person (even though others might see the action as short-sighted and ill-informed). Everyone who contributes to charity is hopefully doing what they believe is best, with the resources and information they have available.</p>
<p>We are all there without any push from our teenage kids. Welcome to communism, everybody! People who paid up there mortgages will have to pay somebody else’s. Everybody deserves to have a house! The fact that some cannot afford it is completely irrelavant.</p>
<p>^ there a wink at the end?</p>
<p>That reminds me of a woman in our bookgroup who didn’t have a car- not enough money apparently and needed lots of help from friends to get errands done- etc.</p>
<p>Then we found out that the reason why she didn’t have a car- even though her husband and she were both working ( part time), was because they had been making huge house payments and had actually been able to pay off their house.</p>
<p>This thread is kind of depressing to me- on the one hand- I immediately thought- oh wow how awesome, self-less and kind. Then the cynical part of me thinks for a minute- looks at the ages of the kids, knows the lengths people are going through to get their kids a “hook”, also how much money did they have, how did they get their money… were they one of these krispy kreme type companies that made millions for their execs and robbed their neighbors of their stock investment by lying and cheating? Do they donate that kind of money through a buisness… did they buy a smaller house or find a good way to get around capital gains? </p>
<p>Since I can barely bring myself to turn on the tv, or read the paper anymore- I guess I will chose to take their act- regardless of the “motivation” or “benefits” as an example to myself…to try and live more self-less-ly, instead of selfishly. I can’t believe I’m going to say this…but I miss the old days- when their seemed to be more trust than deceit, more sharing than hording, and more smiles than screaming. I’m definately getting old!!</p>
<p>^ Yey, kudos to these kids who are impressivly up to what is going on. They represent the current situation so well: people who have never worked / contributed / sacrificed or carry any responsibilities will dictate their wish to the rest. Finally… and I was so naive to think that US will never be there with others who tried this type of economic module and failed miserably. Who said that history lessons need to be considered? Forget it, let’s be adventurous!</p>
<p>Only on CC would someone suggest that what the parents did in selling their mansion and giving half the proceeds to charity was in order to give their kids a hook in college admissions.</p>
<p>Here’s reality: Most parents – including most wealthy parents – aren’t hoping their kids go to a place like HPYS.</p>
<p>The wealthy parents with smart kids don’t have to sell their mansions and publicly give half a million dollars to charity to try to give their kids a hook. If they have enough money to donate half a million dollars, they surely have enough money to make the kind of 7 figure donation to HPYS that would make their kid stand out in admissions as a development case.</p>
<p>Well, MiamiDAP, the assumption seems to be that the children ‘dictated’ that that parents sell their $1 million+ home. If the parents had the wherewithall to earn/save enough to buy a large home, than they certainly have the intelligence and backbone to make their own decisions regarding their home. It sounds as if they listened to the advocacy of their children and made a reasoned choice. That to me is another interesting part of the story–children bringing a moral issue (of importance to them, regardless of what others thing about it) to the attention of the family – and the adults listening and substantively responding to those concerns.</p>
<p>No good deed goes unpunished! </p>
<p>It does seem that this family had its heart in the right place, and a giant heart to boot. However, as the old joke goes about liberals and heart versus brains, one COULD question the destination of the funds. No matter how great the Hunger Project might be, I really believe that this story of generosity would have been more complete had the family decided on a different allocation of their funds. One could have supported Ghana with a LOT less and local activities with the bulk. </p>
<p>I think it’s a shame that the family did not ask their children who prompted them to sell the house to take DIRECT responsibility in how to invest the charitable proceeds and take an ACTIVE role in managing the assets destined to charity. One idea could have been to ask the children to identify children in THEIR own city who could further their education and help rise the tide for everyone. In this vein, I doubt that Atlanta is about to run out of needy children any time soon. </p>
<p>A great story, a great heart, but a questionable execution. However, it’s their money and it shows that dollars and cents are not necessarily the same as dollars and sense.</p>
<p>And last but not least, this story would have ten times better without the desire to grab attention iin the media. I have read and seen this story on TV close to a dozen times. I fail to see how this unique story might inspire others. Keeping the deed private would have been so much better!</p>
<p>More than a few people have pointed out the fact that the kids are essentially giving away money that’s not theirs. True. On the other hand, they lived in that mansion too, so the sacrifice they made in convincing their parents to give it away, while obviously not as significant as the one their parents made, is still significant. At least in my opinion.</p>
<p>"I really believe that this story of generosity would have been more complete had the family decided on a different allocation of their funds. One could have supported Ghana with a LOT less and local activities with the bulk. "</p>
<p>For heaven’s sake, it’s their money and they can do what they want with it. The same is true for those here who complain that that the money should have gone elsewhere. If anyone feels that the family should have give their donation to charities elsewhere, such posters should use their own money to support the charities that they most believe in.</p>
<p>As for people who say that the kids involved didn’t use their own money, they were living in the mansion, so they did give up living in a mansion. They also gave up what could be money that they may have been able to inherit or get as gifts.</p>
<p>Given the disgusting excesses that one sees young people wallowing in on reality shows about weddings and birthday parties, the teens involved in this story seem to be very generous and unselfish.</p>
<p>It is nice that they had a choice to give away half of their house. It would have been a bummer if they were forced to. Voluntary charity is a wonderful thing.</p>
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<p>Yep, that is why I wrote, “A great story, a great heart, but a questionable execution. However, it’s their money and it shows that dollars and cents are not necessarily the same as dollars and sense.”</p>
<p>And people do have the right to do whatever they want with their money. Leona Helmsley also gave her money to a charity she believed in. Does not mean she ever loved a single human in her life but herself.</p>
<p>They do what they want with their money; We decide what is worth applauding according to our own values and principles. Forgive me for thinking that sending all this money to Ghana was not exactly worthy of the local citizen of the year award.</p>