A Nation of Scrooges?

There was an article in the Saturday paper bemoaning the fact that when it comes to charity, we are cheap. Especially here in Quebec. Why is that?

Coincidentally, I won an auction for an indoor parking spot at work for the winter. The proceeds will go to the Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation. The amount is in the 3 figures and they probably didn't think it would get that high. I'll have to ask them how much they thought they would get for the spot when I bring them the check tomorrow. :-)

As well, there was a campaign recently to raise funds for Centraide. Essentially, the goal was the raise $90,000. The company would match whatever the employees gave. The good news is that we reached the monetary goal. The bad news is that only about a quarter of the employees contributed. This seems to give some credence to the article about people here being cheap.

I sometimes think that some people do not know how good they have it until it gets taken away. So why wait until something bad happens to realize what you had? I suppose on the positive, you can get tax credit for donations above a certain amount. But that really should not be the only incentive to give! I think that this past year alone I have given quite a bit to various charities. I gave a pledge to a colleague who did the Walk to End Breast Cancer this summer. I've given to smaller community -driven charities.

After I won the parking spot today, a friend emailed me saying that being single with a disposable income, I was able to win the spot for that amount. I suspect that the other guy vying for the spot is also in the same position. Either way, the money is going to a good cause (in memory of, too).

It's funny, but I don't usually get up on a soapbox on my blog. However, today, I just felt like I had to say something about this subject. So until things change in my life, I think I will continue to give. Even if things change down the road, I still think it's worth the effort to give.