Written by guest blogger Bethany Bowen
The past nine months of economic turmoil has been difficult on all of us. Being in college has spared me a little from the woes of a recession, so when I buy extra clothes to fill my already full closet, I view it as “stimulating the economy” (or when I shop at Uptown Liz I’m stimulating the economy AND supporting worthy causes)! Even in this period of uncertainty and locked spending, a few stars in the world of philanthropy have continued to shine. CEOs and high profile individuals like Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, and William Barron Hilton, co-chairman of the Hilton hotel chains, gave millions of dollars to worthy causes last year.
BusinessWeek recently ran a story, “Top 10 American Givers”, featured on Yahoo. The philanthropists included: Warren Buffet, Bill and Melinda Gates, George Kaiser, George Soros, William Barron Hilton, The Walter Family, Herbert and Marion Sandler, Peter Peterson, Donald Bren, and Michael Bloomberg. In the past year, these individuals gave over $200 million, and nine of them gave more than $100 million!
Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, also the world’s second-richest man, gave $40,655 million to charity from 2004-2008. He is a well known supporter of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, pledging over $31 billion. He also invests in the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and the NoVo Foundation, all of which are family foundations started to support various causes.
This past July, Bill Gates, also widely accepted as the world’s wealthiest man, went from being full-time at Microsoft to full-time at his foundation, the Bill & Melinda Grant Foundation. According to its Web site, their foundation gives grants in order to “help all people lead healthy, productive lives. From 2004-2008, the Gates gave $2,625 million to charity.
Personally, I find it hard to wrap my mind around the grand scale of charitable giving exercised by this leader. After reading the article, if you feel like stimulating the economy while supporting a worthy cause, take a look at Uptown Liz.
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