Being a Great Philanthropist

With the recent announcement of Warren Buffet's $37 Billion donation to the Gates Foundation, one might think that in order to be a great philanthropist you must have a lot of money.

The recent Peanut's cartoon show's Linus sorting out how he can help others. He has the desire to be the next Warren Buffet or Bill Gates. Linus gives us all a smile with his reflection at the end ---"I want to be a great philanthropist with someone else's money."

Philanthropist somehow got combined with the notion that it must be a truck load of money.

When you look at its definition according to the Oxford English Dictionary ---- that notion just isn't true: • noun a person who seeks to help others, especially by donating money to good causes. The word philanthropy has its roots in the word --- love.

One of the aspects of United Way that I value deeply, is its ability to let everyone be a philanthropist. No matter how big or small the gift. The immense strength of United Way is the ability to combine my philanthropic intent with yours to do more than if we had just gone it alone.

At the end of the day, I think Linus is saying "I just want to be someone who helps." And in my book, that is a philanthropist in action.