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May 18, 2005
Philanthropy is Gratifying
Today’s Washington Post has an article about the Whitman-Walker Clinic. The first paragraph began:
The Whitman-Walker Clinic, the region's leading source of services for people with HIV/AIDS, is struggling with a financial crisis that has depleted much of its reserves and forced its board to begin considering program cutbacks. On Friday, for the first time in its three decades, the clinic was unable to meet payroll.
The article goes on to detail the Clinic’s financial woes, which include $700,000 in overdue reimbursements from the District Health Department and Prince George's County housing agency and a potential $2 million liability related to a mistake in billing for government contracts (due to a mistake—not fraud). The billing investigation is holding up further grants, yet the Clinic “has continued to provide social support and medical, legal and educational assistance at an unreimbursed cost of $480,000 a month.”
Although I’ve never gone to the Clinic and don’t know anyone who has, the Clinic’s impact is well known to me. The idea that employees are missing paychecks (and although some staff will be paid their salary balance on Friday, 16 top managers elected to delay their salary completely) was too much. I went to their website and made an online donation. I sent a little note, saying that while my tiny contribution (a pittance, really) wasn’t much, I hope they know how far their influence spreads (all the way to Sweden!).
So now, I can add The Whitman-Walker Clinic to my list of “groups I currently support”. Gosh, I feel so philanthropic—which brings me to my big thought of the day:
Philanthropy is an underestimated source of gratification.
It’s true that there is no selfless act. If you doubt the veracity of this statement, I refer you to the Season 5 Episode 4 of Friends, where Joey claims that good deeds make you feel good, and therefore are selfish. Phoebe spends the entire episode trying to prove him wrong ("I'm gonna find a selfless good dead. I'm gonna beat you, you evil genius" because, "I just gave birth to three children and I will not let them be raised in a world where Joey is right!") Yet even her good deed at the end is deemed selfish because even though she donates money to PBS, which she hates, she feels good about getting Joey on TV for collecting her donation.
But who cares if you feel good about doing good? I'm pretty sure that my donating to the Whitman-Walker Clinic makes me just as happy as a new skirt*—and for about the same cost. Yet, the Clinic needs the money MUCH more than I need a new skirt. Plus, by using my money for a good cause, I am doing a double service:
1. Whitman-Walker gets a little closer to paying their staff their well-deserved salaries.
2. I’m wreaking havoc (well, perhaps not havoc, but I’m at least doing my part) on the economic model that says buy, buy, buy…and then buy some more!
Plus, I get the added benefit of being smug. I love that feeling.
*Perhaps even happier, since apparently I have so many clothes that I can’t even keep track of them. What joy does a forgotten jacket bring?
Comments
You do indeed know someone who has used the Clinic. And your second degree of friends includes others who have--and many MANY who have given, like yourself, of their time, their money (direct donations, or fundraising through the AIDS Ride or the AIDS Marathon, past and present), and even their employment to support it. You are very much contributing back to the larger community of which you are a part. Thank you!
Posted by: Anonymous at May 19, 2005 02:55 AM
