MINIMALIST HERO

Empathy is a Virtue 

I was whittling down my bookshelves for donation to Goodwill Industries when I encountered The Billionaire Who Wasn't, a biography of Anonymous Donor (AD). 

• AD was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to a blue-collar Irish-American family during the Depression. After Air Force service in the Korean War, he made his fortune as co-founder of the Duty-Free Shoppers Group, which pioneered the concept of luxury goods shopping at half the price.
• By 1988, Charles Francis Feeney was hailed by Forbes Magazine as the twenty-fourth richest American businessman alive. But secretly, Feeney had already transferred all his wealth to his foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies. 

"I see little reason to delay giving when so much good can be achieved through supporting worthwhile causes today."

• He remained a frugal man while confronted with unimaginable wealth:
• Introduces himself simply as Chuck, travels economy class, and owns neither a house nor a car. 
• Attends meetings dressed in khakis, a cardigan and a $15 Casio watch whose batteries get changed every five years.

• Only in 1997 when he sold his duty-free interests, was he "outed" as one of the greatest and most mysterious American philanthropists in modern times, who had anonymously funded hospitals and universities from San Francisco to Limerick to New York to Brisbane to Hawaii. 
• He passed on the charitable giving legacy to his former wife and children.
• Culminating in 2020, his final allocations in 2016 totaled $8B+ grants. In his mid-seventies, he determined his foundation should spend the remaining 4 billion during his lifetime. His example convinced Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to give away their fortunes during their lifetime, known as the giving while living pledge. 

The Power of Example

Can you see why Chuck is my minimalist hero? Unfettered by consumerism and armed with compassion, he indeed lived to give of his friendship and resources. I applaud his 2015 donation to both UC San Francisco and Trinity College Dublin's gerontology programs to address the rise of dementia, a topic dear to my heart.

Rich Relatives

It is time to give a shout-out to Ernie and Auring Lucena retired medical doctors on the East Coast. They continually helped their nephew and niece (my children) with autism spectrum disorder and sent countless others in their family to college. Their lives of faith patterns I John 3:17 and II Corinthians 9:6-8 in service of others, in demonstrating how to live with less, consume less, and utilize what we already have.