You are More Charitable Than You Think

Yesterday’s post by the Black Rod raises a lot of great issues. The folks over at the Rod spend some time mulling over just how much the “private” sector actually contributed to the Spirited Energy campaign. An interesting little tidbit popped up:
“Manitoba Public Insurance gave $60,000 for this summer's travelling Spirited Energy street teams.”

Why is MPI giving ANY money to this campaign? Does Spirited Energy have anything to do with road safety or auto theft prevention?

It seems that the society pages of both the Winnipeg Free Press and Winnipeg Sun always have a large crown corporation contingent attending rubber chicken circuit events. In the free market, if you don’t agree with company A’s charitable initiatives, you can buy the products of company B. As the ones picking up the tab for Manitoban crown corporations, we can only hope that the vast expanse of charitable shindigs doesn’t mean higher rates the next time they appear before the Public Utilities Board.

If charity is the end goal of buying a table for 10 or 12, why not conduct yourself in a charitable manner? The bitter irony of having a banquet to raise money for hunger should be alleviated by having most of the seats filled by hungry families. Would you rather see the smiling mugs of a table of Manitoba Lotteries, Manitoba Hydro or Manitoba Public Insurance employees or 2 of their employees photographed with 8 to 10 people that actually use a food bank? If the dinner is to fight cancer, how’s about filling the tables with people that are in from out of town getting chemotherapy sessions for their children?

As the ones paying for all this fundraising, we should expect them to maximize the benefits of OUR generosity…


Motivational Tunes:
Megadeth – Paranoid
Motorhead – It’s a Long Way to the Top
Porno for Pyros - Pets