On Sun, Aug 22, 2010 at 10:27 PM, Greg Diener <[email protected]> wrote:
> I love the people who are defending him crying "he gave away something > what have you donated?" > > The difference is most of us do not have $800M lying around that we > brag that we never spend. > And then there's still Johnny - whose estate just transferred $156 Million to his charitable foundation (after years of transfering $1 - $2 Million annually since 1998). The Carson Foundation gives to a lot of different chairities, including "hefty donations to environmental groups, AIDS charities, schools, children’s aid organizations, and not-for-profits in Nebraska, where he grew up. The group's latest tax return lists 67 separate donations totaling nearly $3 million. The filing also lists eight other contributions, totaling $5.7 million, that the foundation approved for future payment. These gifts include $4 million earmarked for the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, $100,000 for the Los Angeles Free Clinic, and $125,000 for a Planned Parenthood high school sex education initiative." Dave's Foundation is called: "The American Foundation for Courtesy and Grooming".The Wiki's say they gave away about $2.5 Million from 2001-2004, and Forbes ( http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0719/outfront-letterman-oprah-mcgraw-dialing-for-celeb-dollars.html) says they gave away $1.2M last year, with an amazingly efficient overhead of $25.00! The wikis say he gives to a wide variety of mostly Indiana and Montana charities (lots of children's programs, schools, other celebrity foundations (including Paul Newman's) and a long list of medical and other groups. None of this is to suggest that Leno is a selfish cheapskate. I could not find a listing of any foundation under his name, but I only did a quick google search. We know that his wife is very involved in raising money for feminist causes, and the two of them have a lot of google mentions for a 100K gift they gave to support women oppressed by the Taliban in 1999 (I remember that, because I think that was the main source of my awareness of the Taliban prior to 9-11). I would be surprised if Leno is not actively involved in major philanthropy. I think the over-hyping of the Gulf Check is more about trying to rehab his recently tarnished "good guy" image than anything else, and if that is true then I probably give him credit for not dragging out all of the substantial philanthropy he is no doubt involved in for that sordid purpose. -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
