American Express held a vote in which it’s members would decide on where it would donate large sums of money. This is an excellent gesture and a most gracious award for the winners. Many kudos to American Express in doing this.
The results just came in and I was quite dismayed. I guess I shouldn’t have because I’ve been shocked before with the mentality of voters (gas taxes vs public transportation; Bush vs Kerry). Perhaps I’m just far too biased being this touched on the number one topic in my life; education. That said, here were the results:
$1.5 million for 1st place goes to (24,101 votes):
Alzheimer’s Disease: Early Detection Matters and its fulfilling organization, Alzheimer’s Association
$500,000 for 2nd place goes to (20,650 votes):
Help 100,000 children thrive in the classroom! and its fulfilling organization, DonorsChoose.org
Not to make light of Alzheimers, but in my opinion, when should education play second fiddle to anything else? Never! At least not for the next 50-100 years. If I’d had my education to do over again, when I was 5 I would have asked to be sent overseas (not exactly sure where, but I’ve heard there are quite a few countries that place a high value [not just cost] on education).
Outside of that, I understand American Express wants to get their members involved, which is a great thing, but don’t they have an idea of what they consider important? I would hope that their priorities might be a bit more in order than their members.
Keith D Commiskey
https://keithdc.com