Give, Give, Give Poem by Herbert Nehrlich
Give, Give, Give
Give to the poor, the victims of tsunamis,
of wars and earthquakes, natural disasters.
Reach deep, my friend, the altruist in you
ensures a place, eternal be your life.
Do meet and shake the hands, so manicured
of slick, well dressed and smiling superbosses,
who run their charities so smoothly, and in silence.
And wear designer clothes to make their best impression.
More money is the catch-cry and some more,
we've waited long enough for God's scorn to descend
into this world where punishment is wanting.
It's time to cash and carry for the poor.
Administration is the key word for Accounting.
It costs a lot to cover tracks and live the life,
of what a certain Mr Reilly would have, surely,
regarded as the latest state of art.
Yes, help is needed, billions are now flowing,
we are the suckers paying twice to people who
then turn around to send us terrorists and plagues,
blow our citizens to bits on foreign shores.
We are the lucky ones, we own tremendous riches,
have obligations to extend two golden hands.
But would you tell me who would ever listen
to OUR cries if in the coming future
the tables of catastrophy were turned.
Would inconvenience be the simple explanation,
all money's earmarked for their own urgent concerns.
I hear it now 'We wish that we could help you ',
Perhaps the next time fate does strike we'll ask again.
Actually, a friend of mine is a high level staff person at World Vision and says they are constantly under pressure to keep admin costs down and get the vast majority of money to where it belongs. There have been scandals at some places, such as the International Red Cross (not at the American Red Cross, however) , but those are the exception, not the rule. I don't know about foreign charities, but U.S. ones are regularly audited. The Washington DC chapter of United Way comes to mind. They've gotten caught at least twice funneling money to questionable things. A far greater problem is how well (or poorly) these charitable groups coordinate with each other.
I guess you never truly know how a charity will spend your money, and every once in awhile there are scandals. But I think most of the charities keep their administrative overhead pretty low and give at least 75% of your contribution directly to those in need. Most of the staffs don't really get paid alot. Auditors track these kinds of things.
This is a sad train of thought. We must learn to trust in others. There are still a few good souls on this Earth who will give without question. Let's hope they multiply. -war
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/26/2024 4:32:31 AM # 1.0.0.1119
High level staff persons with high level salaries. I know them personally too. American Red Cross: Scandals, yes, most recently post 9-11.(on world news services) It's similar to politics. The caliber of people. Benjamin Franklin said it best, (slightly modified) the mere fact that people with clean hands enter (charities, politics etc) means nothing....... One of the biggest problems is that charities count salaries under administration costs, also A&P (advertising and promotion) . And why do YOU hide your identity? H