| The $10,000 Question Written by: Tomi Afolayan Congratulations! You have been selected to receive $10,000. But before you will be able to obtain this cash prize, tell me: what do you plan on using your money for? AMG asked Alyssa, Chelsea and Kate what they would do with a cash prize of $10,000. So what would you do? Take a second and think about that before reading on. Would you donate any of it? According to American Magazine, the most generous people in America are low-income wage earning families. They give away 4.5 percent of their income on average, as opposed to 2.5 percent from the middle-class, and 3 percent among high-income families. It is your money, so it’s also your right to choose to spend your money as you please. But it is everyone’s responsibility to contribute to the world we inhabit. You don’t have to give a monetary donation for it to make a difference; you can also donate your time and energy for the greater good. Just remember that a low income family earning on average $38,000 a year can donate around $1,710 a year of their total income. Only one out of three of the girls we talked to said they would definitely donate money. Alyssa said she would spend $4,000 on her car, buy new clothes, accessories and other items with $1,000, and save and invest the other $5,000. When asked if she would donate any of the money she said, most likely not. We told her we appreciated her honesty and asked her, why? She said: “That’s not enough money for me to donate; I might though.” The interesting thing is that if that low income family earning $38,000 somehow got a $10,000 bonus and still kept giving 4.5 percent of their income they would be giving approximately $2,160. Kate didn’t want to donate because she said she was sure other people would. She said she would spend all of her money on college to reduce the costs. Is it true that if we don’t step up to the plate other people will? A national survey conducted by the American Magazine reported that Americans who give are three times more likely than those who don’t to give money easily to friends and strangers. They are also more likely to give food or money to a homeless person or give up their seat for someone on the bus. Chelsea said she would give the whole of her prize. She also said she is involved in various charities and non-profit organizations including Amnesty International, Habitat for Humanity and Save Darfur. She not only contributes financially, but she also is active in promoting awareness and volunteering. We encourage you to think about how much it would really affect you to sacrifice a little to make a big difference. Because for each of those organizations, every dollar counts, and every second of volunteering makes some sort of difference. |
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