What causes do you support — with either your money or your time and effort?
Having $1 billion is hard to imagine. It’s probably even harder to imagine having that much money to give away. If you were fortunate enough to have millions or billions of dollars, what causes or charities would you support? In “$1 Billion Donation Will Provide Free Tuition at a Bronx Medical School,” Joseph Goldstein writes about a remarkable philanthropic gift made by Ruth Gottesman, 93, a longtime professor:
This lesson plan is from The New York Times learning network.
Students read the entire article and then tell us:
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What cause or causes would you support if you were a millionaire or billionaire philanthropist? Why?
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What is your reaction to Dr. Gottesman’s decision to donate $1 billion to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, with instructions that the gift be used to cover tuition for all students going forward? Do you think her generosity will inspire others?
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Do you think giving to charitable causes is important? Why? Do you believe the wealthy have any extra obligation to give money to altruistic causes?
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A condition of Dr. Gottesman’s gift is that the Einstein College of Medicine did not change its name. Ginia Bellafante writes that this gift was “remarkable not only for its size but also for the absence of any apparent vanity surrounding it.” What do you think about the size of the gift and the way that Dr. Gottesman made her donation?
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How do you give to others? Do you donate money, time, or other resources to charities you care about? If so, how do you decide which causes to support?
