Support for the arts and education is very important, but I’m really concerned in these economic times with hunger and health. Working families are really struggling today; I can feel the despair in the eyes of people on the streets. I can feel the real pinch in the pocket when I go to the grocery stores. I can’t imagine the decisions that a low income family is facing now. The same concern for healthcare, something must be done to make is more accessible for low income families. I would love to have the opportunity to give an endowment to a reputable agency(s) working to improve the lives of the working poor.

Can we divide it? I know in this day and time with our economy such as it is one million dollars doesn’t really go all that far but I’d like to start by feeding a few of the millions of hungry children in this country who are most often ignored by the government aid packages and celebrity causes in favor of those in some third world country. Most of the USA is afraid to look too closely at it’s underbelly. The government, especially under a republican administration, seems to think ignoring it will keep it from being there, or keep the rest of the world from seeing it, or maybe they just don’t care. Then I’d like to invest in some endeavor that would assist their parents in gaining employment and keeping them fed.

Project Heifer?

Education. Chosen from the point of view that “teach a man to fish” is a superior solution that “give a man a fish.”

My gift would go to some of the animal rescue organizations. These animals have no one else to help them and cannot help themselves. There are thousands of unwanted horses in this country and many are just abandoned to slowly starve to death. The same for unwanted dogs and cats.. You save the people and I will save the animals.

My gift would go to my passion…the same passion I have been working at for over 10 years…child passenger safety. I agree with some earlier statements that ONE MILLION is not enough nationally, so I would keep it local. Car crashes are the #1 killer of children under the age of 14. Not enough is being done to protect kids in cars. And parents aren’t paying enough attention to the probelm. Education is the key. My 2 cents.

All the categories listed on the poll are worthy. Not sure where my million $ contribution would go other than stay right here in the USA!

Many of you have posted remarkable ideas about how you would use one million dollars to support one cause or another. I can’t think of anything I’d add. However, I, like many of you have had a business, and one million dollars doesn’t go very far. Therefore, I chose ‘other’ among the choices because one million dollars is not enough money to significantly impact health, education, hunger, or the arts - not in the sense that it would be a solution affecting a large percentage of those needing help. Instead, I would choose three underprivileged families, move them out of their impoverished environment, and provide them with housing, better education, health care, access to cultural activities, and family counseling to install the social skills they would need to prosper. My objective would be a ‘hands on’ three-year plan whereby these families would have a real chance to succeed, gaining viable options to pursue a better quality of life.

Shelter would be where I would put my money. So many other related problems could be solved if we could create “homes” for the homeless. One million won’t go very far but I would start in my own community where it indded would make a difference.

A cause that has not yet been supported.