If you’ve ever made a purchase at a store or restaurant, you’ve probably been asked to donate to a charity. Most of the time, you can pre-select the amount you want to donate. In other cases, they might round up your total to the nearest dollar and claim to “donate” that amount. But it does sometimes make you wonder about where your money is actually going when you casually agree to donate. Now, a Wisconsin man is confronting the reality of rounding up for charity.
John Calabrese (@calabrese1976) shared an interaction he had with a worker at a grocery store. He was asked if he wanted to round up his total amount for charity. When he asked the worker, “What’s the charity?” he was surprised by the answer he received. It turns out, the employee didn’t even know what charity his store was donating to. John said he picked up the phone to call his manager and find out. But John told him he didn’t have to go to those extents.
However, John took this as a chance to strike up a very real conversation. He asked the employee if anybody else asked about the charity. The employee said, “No,” but he did confirm that some people donated without giving it a second thought. John then takes the opportunity to tell the employee about the reality of donating to charities through major retailers. He says, “I say no because their CEO makes 20 million dollars a year. So, why am I going to round up when they don’t treat their employees as well as they could?”
A commenter agreed with John’s sentiment and said they do the same thing. They stated, “Those companies take the credit for your donation and get a tax write off. I always say no.” Another person said, “It makes me so angry when I go to the grocery store and they literally say, ‘Would you like to round up to help feed starving children?’ While the workers aren’t even paid a livable wage. It’s so manipulative.” And, as John points out, these millionaire CEOs should be making the consideration to donate big chunks of their own money to charity; they actually have the ability to do so.
