Philanthrocapitalism_ How Giving Can Save the World - Matthew Bishop [22]
Because so many people live on the edge of financial insecurity, there are a lot of families like the nurse and her kids, one rent hike or health emergency away from homelessness. The commitment and cooperation exhibited by the IRF could serve as a model for religious communities around the country.
For people who can spare a few hours or a day at a time where they’re needed, there’s no better organization to help than Make-A-Wish. Since 1980, the Make-A-Wish Foundation has granted the wishes of more than 144,000 children around the world with life-threatening medical conditions, thanks to a network of more than 25,000 volunteers who serve as wish-givers, helpers at special events, fund-raisers, and in other capacities. The first Make-A-Wish child was a seven-year-old with leukemia who wanted to become a police officer. A U.S. Customs officer and the Arizona Department of Public Safety gave him a tour in a police helicopter, swore him in as an honorary patrolman, and made him an official uniform. The young boy died shortly afterward.
The second child, also with leukemia, wanted to be a fireman. Soon, the movement exploded to grant all kinds of wishes, including trips to Disneyland and sports events, and meeting famous people. When I was president, Make-A-Wish brought forty-seven young people to see me, either in the White House or during my visits to communities where the children lived. Those kids did a lot more for me than I did for them.
Eleven-year-old Fred Sanger from St. Louis had heart problems that required him to stay indoors a lot. He watched the news and kept up with current events. When his parents and the Make-A-Wish people brought him to see me, I was amazed at how much he knew about my work, and kept in touch with him for some time afterward. Since leaving office, I’ve been asked to see three more Make-A-Wish kids. One of them, eighteen-year-old Nolan Heath, came to my office in Harlem in 2006 with his parents and brothers. He had had four surgeries in the past year but still managed to enroll at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Because I was only available during his first week of classes, he wrote to each of his professors asking for permission to miss a few classes, assuring them he was a diligent student and would quickly catch up. After I met him, I had no doubt that he would do that and more. If you want to do something that will really help children and leave you feeling good about yourself, volunteer for Make-A-Wish.
I was amazed by the number and variety of people who showed up in the Gulf Coast area to help after Hurricane Katrina. On my first trip there after the hurricane, I ran into one of Chelsea’s best friends from high school, who’s now an architect. He and two of his friends dropped what they were doing and traveled to Biloxi, Mississippi, for three weeks to help. And Russell Gerraerts, a Montana contractor, came to town intending to volunteer only for two weeks, and then return with his own work crew to earn some money. When he saw how bad it was, he stayed on as a volunteer.
In Pearlington, Mississippi, with no federal rebuilding funds released, insurers’ paychecks delayed, and most people still living in FEMA trailers a year and a half after Katrina, homes were being rebuilt by volunteers from Habitat for Humanity, Catholics from Massachusetts, Methodists from Illinois, Amish from Pennsylvania, and other church groups from across the South.
In New Orleans, the residents of the Broadmoor neighborhood were told in early 2006 that their homes would be razed and their land turned into parks if half the residents didn’t return within four months. A year later, thanks to partnerships with companies, universities, and NGOs, the residents had restored and repainted two-thirds of the 2,900 damaged homes. As of late February 2007, 55 percent of the residents had returned, and new people were moving in, with housing prices down