Nick Should Pick
I don't want to get all up in Nick Barnett's business. However, I am here to urge him to think independently before donating to charity.
barnett
I don't want to get all up in Nick Barnett's business. However, I am here to urge him to think independently before donating to charity.
For those of you living under a rock, Nick Barnett has agreed to donate $10,000 dollars to charity after racking up 10,000 followers on his Twitter account. Unfortunately, he has decided to let the public decide by running a small poll to determine where the money should be spent.
I think Nick's vision of involving the people is gracious and his donation even more noble than that. This being said, I would beg Nick to pull his poll down, go with what he feels is the best recipient of the funds, and play from his heart instead of off his fans.
Online polls can be abused. They can be abused both by multiple voters and by the heat of the moment.
Nick has a very questionable charity in Sophia's Heart leading the voting right now. It is an organization seeped in controversy, and labeled as a religious cult by many outsiders. Run by American Idol finalist Danny Gokey and his rabid fans, it hardly makes for a fair playing field. There are too many questions that remain unanswered.
I will not judge the worthiness of one charity over another; I will not say that any party is more deserved.
But, I will urge Mr. Barnett to give this gift of hope from the heart, and not from the hard drive.
Here is the poll. Please educate yourself before voting.
P.S. I apologize for the minimal posts lately. I stabbed my finger to the bone with a knife and am hoping to be fully recovered by training camp.
Comments (7)
July 16, 2009 at 09:13 am
"not registered with the IRS"
'Nuff said. There's a reason organizations have to register, so they can't just funnel people's money to other causes with zero oversight.
July 16, 2009 at 09:21 am
Each legit charity is nice, but for some reason, I always like watching Make A Wish foundations videos during the summer on ESPN.
Maybe one day they will have Greg Jennings, cause I havent seen him in one yet.
There will be some kid with leukemia, and then he is playing his video games when Jennings pops on the screen.
"Hey Jimmy, this is Greg Jennings of the Packers. I want you to come down to our training camp to meet me and the guys."
The childs face is in shock, he gets to see his favorite team up close.
Classic.
July 16, 2009 at 09:49 am
I guess I live under a rock, because I hadn't heard of this. I just haven't bought into the idea that everything that happens on Twitter is somehow special.
I agree that Nick should've been more careful. There is nothing wrong with judging the worthiness of one charity over another, because there are a lot of questionable ones out there. And the article you linked shows that this one is shaky at best. Nick would've been better to provide a list of charities and let people vote on them or something.
July 16, 2009 at 10:40 am
Barnett is just too nice of a guy and a bit naive to realize this kind of stuff goes on all the time. As Greg said, he should pick 10 charities and let people vote.
July 16, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Nice post, Alex. I hope you responded to him on his twitter. I will be sure to vote for some other charity.
July 17, 2009 at 01:53 pm
I think what Nick is doing is great. To donate any kind of money to any charity is wonderful. I think that his act of kindness is getting pushed aside. It's his money. Period. He can out vote his Twitter followers and he may it's his choice, but the point is, he is giving.
It's a sad day when someone tries to give money and people harass him for it. All of those charities go for good causes. Just please sit back and be thankful. Unless you would all like to donate the same amount of your own money or maybe even double it?
Thank you Nick!!
Alex Tallitsch
July 17, 2009 at 02:10 pm
What he is doing is great, no doubt about it. However, it is obvious his poll has been abused, and there was never any doubt in my mind that this would be the case.
I am a big Barnett supporter, and converse with him here and there. He knows full well I am on his side.
No one is overlooking his kindness. However, it is our duty as human beings to bring attention to the failures of the method.