The Toronto International Film Festival has attracted both the stars and the stargazers again this September. One of them is Matt Damon, an affable, down-to-earth guy whose actual personality belies the hard-nosed, I-can-kill-you-with-my bare hands characters he often plays in movies.
Damon was here to promote his latest flick, The Informant!, which is getting great reviews. He also took time to act as spokeperson for one of his favorite causes, One X One --after he dealt with the rumours of his death! http://www.onexone.org/index.php?direct=go
The organization focuses on five key areas of a child's development: water, hunger, healthcare, education, and play. One X One supports projects in many poor and developing nations in different parts of the world. Since 2005 the organization has contributed six million dollars to various initiatives. Damon's endorsement at TIFF is a perfect fit because it was started by a Canadian woman, Joelle Berdugo-Adler, who previously made her mark with the Diesel jean brand.
We have many worthy causes in our churches to which we regularly contribute. It's important to remember that many key agencies are involved in practical compassion beyond those supported by religious communities.
Do you support charities and agencies that are not church-related? What do you think of celebrity endorsement and involvement with different causes?
4 comments:
Many of us complain about the huge paycheques celebrities get, so when I hear someone like Matt Damon getting involved in a charity - financially or otherwise - I find it heartwarming.
When you think about the millions of millionaires in the world, if each of them made a contribution in some way, what a difference it could make.
I tend to support charities that are aimed at children. One of the lesser known charities that I have supported in the past was "Sleeping Children Around the World"("SCAW).
SCAW is not well known because, unlike many other charities, it does not advertise.
It was founded by the late Murray Dryden, hockey great Ken Dryden's father. When Murray was young, he found it distressing to see children in the world who did not have a bed to sleep in. So he set out to put one million children in beds - most of them children in impoverished countries.
Murray was an incredible person - putting all of his time and effort into this project. His energy was incredible. Sadly, he fell short of the million children, but did achieve somewhere in the neighbourhood of 500,000. Near the end of his life, he was quite disappointed at not reaching the million children, but fortunately SCAW lives on.
I do support charities that are not religion based. I stay away from ones that are religion based. If celebrities endorse charities it gives the charities more coverage to the public.
By the way TIFF has been great this year!
In some ways, I avoid those charities that are religion based until I find out more about them. I find that some of them don't think about how their works affect a community. It is more about doing for than doing with. Before I give to a charity, I need to know their mission and do a bit of research on where the money goes and how they work with the people they are supporting.
This may sound like a plug for the United Church Mission and Service Fund, but this is why I give to this fund. I have confidence in how the United Church works with people across the globe in trying to understand needs and to support them in their work. The United Church also believes that it is just as important for us to give as to receive. There is a lot we can learn from others.
I couldn't agree more about the integrity and postive work of SCAW. One of our St. Paul's members, Billie Kemp, has worked diligently on behalf of SCAW through the years, and generations of Sunday School kids have heard about and contributed to this worthy enterprise.
The challenge with contributing to charities and not-for-profits is finding how much of what we give benefits the intended recipients. Some organizations, both secular and religious, take too much for administration, or to pad the pockets of key figures.
I agree with Deb that the United Church Mission and Service fund does a good job of finding trustworthy partners in various places around the world to ensure that there is as little misappropriation as possible.
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