John Ford spoke to the club January 23rd on Philanthropic giving in Wayne County. A volunteer himself, he has headed the Wayne County Foundation as well as the Reid Hospital board.
He defined philanthropy as sharing one's personal wealth with the needs of others less fortunate, a maxim which is both American and Biblical.
He noted the compounding of donations in relation to the recent Haitian disaster, citing that 355 million dollars had been donated by the end of last week, to the fund, mostly from individual Americans.
Wayne County has a number of private foundations, which are managed by individuals, with a total of 25 million dollars in assets. The Wayne County Foundation has approximately 30 million dollars in assets.
Ford noted that his generation will probably be the last which is capable of making significant gifts to philanthropic organizations.
He concluded his address by stating that in 2005, 3.2 billion dollars in accumulated assets were held by philanthropic organizations while urging club members to consider making gifts as a way to distribute their wealth.