Charity begins....everywhere

We belong to a church which, through relations with a priest from it's past, is aligned with a kid's housing and schooling charity spread through various horrifically poor countries in South America. Because of that they hold an annual fundraising dinner which raises enough money to run a small city.

 In one dinner.

 Over $50,000 is raised at that dinner, excluding the auction items, to help run the homes. These auction items ranged from handmade art and wines to more wonderfully, immediate things like Baseball playoff tickets and a Willie Mays signed ball (which I lost.)

 And despite the promise of the rubber chicken dinner the Mexican themed food wasn't bad.

 This is repeated throughout the US with varying degrees of effectiveness, Some charities are run like mom and pop stores while others have vast networks of staff and professional fundraisers.

 NCCS stats from 2010:

 Number 1,014,800
 Number File with IRS 507,589
Total Revenue 1,376,134,817,210
 Total Assets 2,479,799,049,073

Note: Excludes out-of-scope and approximately 900 so-called "mutual benefit" public charities

 A MILLION charities! Charitable/non-profit status is a wonderful, coveted thing, with over a million charities and other non-profits with over a trillion dollars in revenue and double that in assets.

 Some are charities which are well established givers, like the Red Cross or Salvation Army. And then there's the NFL. Yup. The billion dollar NFL, whose CEO psys himself $44 million a year and whose office are in the centre of Manhattan is a registered non-tax paying non-profit.

 But how can you tell the good from the bad, knowing that your money is going to good uses, not just admin? Well there is help at hand with, amongst others: www.charitywatch.org
 Which of course, is a non-profit charity itself.

 It rates companies according to various criteria, including accountabilty, effectiveness of giving on an A-Z scale.

 The big boys like Red Cross and, yes, Livestrong, get straight A's. And some guys get straight F's, like the heart string tugging named "Childhood Leukemia Foundation." At the least, they provide jobs for people so they can't be all bad?

 Many sports players in the states have foundations of various effectiveness which have the triple effect of giving back, tax deductibility and giving the athlete something to do after their immediate sporting fame is gone. Most consist of a golf tourney or so where old players get to mix with business men for a mutual back rub. And there's nothing wrong with a good back rub.

Small fish in a big pond: Johnny Clegg in the USA

Johnny Clegg is one of the greatest South African musicians with an ability to sell out venues of thousands. He's appeared with some of thegreatest musicians on stages throughout the world.

His songs have been used in movies throughout the world, from Jock of the Bushveld to George of the Jungle.

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He's appeared onstage with Nelson Mandela, for goodness sake. (Admittedly, he did write a song about him)

And I've seen him twice in the US at venues holding 300 people.

First time was at the Great American Music Hall in downtown SF, a venue with a great history of high quality acts, with a 14 piece group.

The second was in the hills of Palo Alto at Montalvo Arts Center, a beautiful venue in a colonial house on a hill. This is one of the few music venues without the smell of skunk throughout, though some of the superannuated audience looked like they'd imbibed in the not to distant past. Instead of a raucous beer garden there was a wine table. And instead of hot dogs, kale.

He appeared here with a smaller 5 man band and featured his talented son in an unexpectedly good opening act. And this pensioner is fitter than most people half his age, strutting within the confines of the stage with total spacial confidence. He's still touring for... I don't know why. Is it the exposure? The money? Or could it possibly be that he actually enjoys it?

The audience here was not a youthful splurge, but a smattering of scatterlings.  Looking at this I realize that he's been with me most of my life; from my early university days at the Free People concerts through Ellis Park concerts to the most recent ones in the US.

More importantly, he's been there through South Africa's changes as a constant to look back on and help carry people through the present. He is the true gatherer of the scatterlings of Africa.

Small fish in a large pond

Johnny Clegg is one of the greatest South African musicians with an ability to sell out venues of thousands. He's appeared with some of thegreatest musicians on stages throughout the world. His songs have been used in movies throughout the world, from Jock of the Bushveld to George of the Jungle. He's appeared onstage with Nelson Mandela, for goodness sake. (Admittedly, he did write a song about him) And I've seen him twice in the US at venues holding 300 people. First time was at the Great American Music Hall in downtown SF, a venue with a great history of high quality acts, with a 14 piece group. The second was in the hills of Palo Alto at Montalvo Arts Center, a beautiful venue in a colonial house on a hill. This is one of the few music venues without the smell of skunk throughout, though some of the superannuated audience looked like they'd imbibed in the not to distant past. Instead of a raucous beer garden there was a wine table. And instead of hot dogs, kale. He appeared here with a smaller 5 man band and featured his talented son in an unexpectedly good opening act. And this pensioner is fitter than most people half his age, strutting within the confines of the stage with total spacial confidence. He's still touring for... I don't know why. Is it the exposure? The money? Or could it possibly be that he actually enjoys it? The audience here was not a youthful splurge, but a smattering of scatterlings. Looking at this I realize that he's been with me most of my life; from my early university days at the Free People concerts through Ellis Park concerts to the most recent ones in the US. More importantly, he's been there through South Africa's changes as a constant to look back on and help carry people through the present. He is the true gatherer of the scatterlings of Africa.