Money To Disaster Victims example essay topic

"On the Money", an article written by Allison Hope Weiner, is a brief article written as an effort to help explain the controversy surrounding the celebrity telethon that was held almost three months ago. The telethon, America: A Tribute to Heroes, ended up receiving donations totaling an estimated one hundred and fifty million dollars all put into a fund overseen by the United Way, called the September 11th Fund. This fund has received over three hundred and forty million dollars all from donator's. The controversy of the telethon arises with the distribution of the money. During the telethon, celebrities were stating that all of the money donated would go directly to the victims of September 11 and their families. Even though the charity supporting the event, the United Way, relinquished their administrative costs, the other organizations that were awarded donated money did use some of the donations to pay for their operating costs.

The other controversial issue that is explained in this article is length of time taken to deliver the donated money to the victims of the national tragedy. The article explains that it takes time for charities to give money to disaster victims. Plans must be in place for who obtains the money and how much they receive. The last controversial issue examined in this article is the celebrities who encouraged people to donate to this fund and their role in how the money is spent. Bill O'Reilly has accused the celebrities of using the telethon to improve their public image instead of helping the victims of September 11. He also states that if celebrities put more pressure on the charities involved they would be better organized and aid the victims further.

I believed that this article was important to the entertainment industry in the segment of celebrity endorsements. When celebrities, such as George Clooney and Julia Roberts that are idolized by the American public, endorse a product, or give their opinion on a controversial subject, they usually have a following of their fans that agree with them. People tend to trust celebrities and their opinions on subjects. This very great power was illustrated well during the telethon in discussion. When this power is misused or used to benefit the celebrity at the cost of victims of a horrible tragedy, the public image of the celebrities involved becomes marred. During this telethon, many celebrities told us that one hundred percent of the money donated would go directly to the victims of September 11.

Obviously, this cannot be the case. Anyone who runs a business, or has worked for a nonprofit organization before, knows that some costs cannot be avoided. Just the fact that the celebrities stated that all of the money would go to the victims is a misleading notion. Because of this misunderstanding, many of the celebrities involved in the telethon are finding themselves under fire for using this tragedy to better their public image instead of helping the victims.

I found this article very interesting because I was one of the people to donate money during that telethon. Even though I did not donate much, just twenty dollars, I did believe that all of my money was going to be given directly to the victims of September 11. Of course, I realized later on that it is impossible to give the money directly to the victims unless you personally hand them cash. I did find it interesting the amount of controversy that is involved with the September 11th Fund. I did like this article, which is why I chose it, because it showed both sides of the coin.

The one thing I was upset that it did not mention is the fact that most people gave money, not because of the star-studded telethon, but because of their feeling of helplessness. I know that is why I donated my money. When something terrible happens, humans have a natural affinity to be helpful. When the ability to help is limited, people help any way they can; on this occasion, it happened to be donations.

Celebrities did help spread the word about the fund, but I believe they were doing what we were all trying to do, help.