“Alms! Alms! Alms for the rich and famous!”
[Thanks to Susan for the nooze tip.]
Maybe you don’t fall for “millionaire in need” stories. Or maybe you do. If you do, busy movie star Alyssa Milano has her hand out for your money (https://pagesix.com/2024/01/26/parents/alyssa-milano-blasted-over-fundraiser-for-sons-baseball-trip/).
She and her husband (also a millionaire in his own right) put up a Go Fund Me page to raise $10,000 for their son’s baseball team to play in a tournament at Cooperstown, New York. For them, ten grand is chump change.
The schnorrer act has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Like, why don’t these two millionaires pay their own way?
Alyssa Milano, now 51, was the kidnapped daughter in Commando, an Arnold Schwarzenegger action flick from the 1970s. She’s been a very busy actress for years, but I can’t say I’ve seen any of those movies or TV shows. Most of them I haven’t even heard of.
Anyway, she’s earned boxcar-loads of money but would much rather spend your money on her child’s recreation. I tell you, she’s wasted in civilian life. Why isn’t this woman in Congress? Then she could spend other people’s money whether they liked it or not.
I just read of a woman that before she died of a long battle of cancer helped her husband set a fund on Twitter-X to raise money to help pay off other peoples’ medical bills – it has raised close to half a million dollars. A church in Florid did the same thing and raised $315,000. I am on Xtandi medicine which costs $35,000/month but the Xtandi Foundation pays for it.
Sobering stats…
And that’s a completely different situation from someone setting up a Go Fund Me page when they are rich. I don’t begrudge anyone assistance when they need it, of course not, but when someone just wants to beg from strangers because they refuse to help themselves when they can, I find that despicable.
Where is the dignity, people? Compared to a millionaire movie star, I’m nothing, and I thank God for my blessings, but I get up every morning and work, even when it’s not what I would rather do. But I’d rather do that, than become a drain on the system. I actually hope to work the rest of my life. It feels good to me. Today was actually payday, and I just finished moving some of my pay to savings, zeroing my credit card balances and caught up on my fixed expenses, garbage removal, etc.
It feels good to do this. I’ve learned that if I can’t afford something, I can either wait, or if it’s important enough to me, I might raid my savings. Recently, I did just this, because I had a five figure home repair, and I had to swallow hard and partially deflate my savings, but I didn’t have to take on debt, and I sure as hell didn’t even think of setting up a Go Fund Me page.
If someone experiences a tragic event, I can understand that they might need help. But anyone with seven-figure income should be ashamed of themselves, to beg that others give their hard earned money to fund a Little League trip. No, I don’t believe that anyone with money should always be the one to pick up the check, but had they offered to match any donation from other parents of the team members, that could well have done the trick.