A Good Cause?

As a small business owner in downtown Racine, I am frequently asked to give donations for one cause or another. It is a delicate problem.

For starters, it is likely that the average person on the street has more cash than the average retailer in downtown. So I would go broke if I gave to even one fourth of those that request money or other donations.

Perhaps I am being a bit sensitive here, but the requests are often accompanied by promises to patronize the business. The implication to me is that a denied request could mean no patronization.

So I do my best to gently deny the requests when I must, and this is difficult. Often someone needs life saving surgery or a parent died and the child needs money for this or that. It can be heartbreaking.

Yesterday an employee of my business received a call from someone asking for money to fund a party for Racine Unified secretaries. Unlike most requests, my donation would not be tax deductable. So I didn't feel even the slightest twinge of guilt in denying the request. Truth be told, my employee took it upon herself to deny the request on my behalf. Anyway,why would anyone agree to pay for the RUSD secretaries to have a party?