Chapters (62)
- Cover
- A PENNY
- Dedication
- Acknowledgments
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- A Sample Chapter of Don’t Take Any Wooden Nickels
- About the Author
- Other Books by Mindy Starns Clark
- About the Publisher
“Frank?” I said. “You have an opinion here?”
He grinned and shook his head.
“I respect what they’re doing there,” he said. “I just don’t agree with the means.”
“How so?”
“It’s an ongoing debate in our house,” Gwen explained. “Frank has a problem with the whole starving-child angle.”
“It’s exploitation, it is,” he said. “You show me a picture of an emaciated child and tell me my $20 a month or whatever will change her life. Of course I’m going to send you money.”
“Doesn’t the money go to help the child?”
Gwen hesitated and then spoke, lowering her voice.
“For the most part, the money is pooled. One person’s donation won’t go very far, but the combination of lots of donations can help pay for schools, food, health care, and so on.”
“Yeah,” Frank said, also lowering his voice, “but with some of those hunger relief organizations, the things your money’s paying for aren’t even in the same village as the child you’re sponsoring—sometimes not even in the same country! I give my $20 to help little Jose in El Salvador, and unbeknownst to me, it’s used to pay for an irrigation system in Mozambique!”
“But people are still being helped,” Gwen said. “Regardless of where the money is ultimately being used.”
“Exploitation,” he insisted, shaking his head. “I’m getting these cute little photos and sweet letters and patting myself on the back for making a difference in the life of this child. In reality, this child’s life hasn’t changed at all. Maybe an extra sack of rice at Christmas time. Other than that, he’s still living in squalor, and my monthly donations haven’t helped him one bit. And it’s not just Feed the Need. Almost all the hunger relief organizations work that way.”
“Charity is charity,” Gwen countered in what I could tell was their well-worn debate. “Your money still goes to help the needy one way or another. And at least with Feed the Need, the majority of the money goes into the program and not to support some exorbitant CEO’s salary.”
“Yeah, the money is spent wisely. But they’re still using the innocent little faces of children to get that money out of my pocket. I have a problem with that.”
The three of us were silent for a moment. I could see both sides of the argument equally. Though in my heart I agreed with Gwen, as a nonprofit professional I had to side with Frank. One of the basic tenets of good stewardship is that “all statements made by the organization in its fund raising appeals about the use of the gift must be honored by the organization.” In other words, the money you raise should always go to the exact cause you stated that it would go for in your money-raising efforts. Anything else was fraudulent.