Celebrities and charities

by Nana Adae-Amoakoh

Magazines and tabloids are always emblazoned with the trivial aspects of celebrities lives: the affairs, the scandals, their excessive luxury lives.

Why are we so obsessed with their frugalities?

Perhaps this is because most people remain convinced that the key to happiness is money and fame.

Yet it is recognised that with great freedom comes great responsibility, and many of the world’s most rich and famous have adopted this ethos.

Celebrity philanthropy

There is something we can now genuinely admire – celebrity philanthropy.

The Giving Back Fund compiles a celebrity philanthropy list every year, and in 2009, Oprah Winfrey topped its list of givers by donating $58.3 million to Oprah's Angel Network and her recently-opened Leadership Academy.

Fourth on that list, and yet the runner-up to Oprah’s superstardom is Barbra Streisand who gave $11.75 million through her Streisand Foundation.

In the same year, despite the battering he has taken from the international media as a result of the exposure around his extra-marital engagements, Tiger Woods took fifth position by donating $9.5 million to organisations including the Tiger Woods Learning Centre funded by the Tiger Woods Foundation.

Further down on the list, Brangelina appears at number 11.

No shyness to charity through her work as UNICEF goodwill ambassador, Angelina Jolie and her spouse Brad Pitt reportedly gave $2.4 million for a school and community Centre in Swakopmund, Namibia, as well as the Daniel Pearl Foundation, Namibian hospitals, Doctors Without Borders, Global Action for Children and other charities.

Bygone age

The stars of the bygone age were also charitable, notably the famous car maker Henry Ford (1863-1937) who established the Ford Foundation in 1936 and made numerous charitable contributions, including $7.5 million for the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and $5 million for a museum in Dearborn.

Investment banker John Pierpont (J.P.) Morgan's personal wealth was enormous, and during his life he donated substantial portions of his money to philanthropic endeavours such as charities, churches, hospitals, schools, and the arts.

One line of argument is that some of the most philanthropic celebrities shy away from the spotlight, deciding rather to include their charitable work alongside their everyday actions as opposed to attending galas and drawing undeserved attention to themselves.

Their names come up again and again and include the likes of Susan Sarandon, Paul Newman, and Whoopi Goldberg.

Speaking out

Even with families and careers and gruelling schedules, these philanthropic stars make time to speak out, sit on advisory boards, and even start their own organizations.

Anne Hathaway, Charlize Theron, and Jessica Alba have repeatedly contributed to the STEP-UP Women's Network as Goddess Day volunteers, event hosts, and advisory board members.

Publicity and celebrity matter to charities because exposure breeds attention and attention inspires contributions.

A study by Elizabeth Dunn, an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia, found that money can buy you happiness if you are spending on the right people.

Studies of happiness have long found that, unless people are extremely poor, getting more money brings surprisingly slight gains in positive feelings.

The researchers suspected that perhaps the happiness holdback was not inherent in money itself, but rather in what people did with their money, mainly, spending it on possessions for themselves.

In 2004, Will Smith admitted that finding fame and fortune did not provide the self-actualisation and happiness that he thought it would deliver.

Instead he says an emotional void had appeared, a problem he cites as evident in many Hollywood stars.

Money and fame are not enough to make anybody happy, but channelling one’s accomplishments should pave a path towards personal contentment.