Charity Profile: Agape Foundation

Sometimes large companies can get an undeserved bad reputation.  Big businesses are generally looked at as selfish and opposed to charity, but the reality is very different.  Many large businesses like Microsoft, Seament, and Wal-Mart have owners who donate a significant amount of their money to charity.  There are a variety of charities and causes business owners can choose to support, but many donations go to charities that strive to better education around the world.  If you're interested in donating to an education based charity, you could donate to the profiled charity in this blog post.

Agape Foundation

Education is essential for success and change, that's why so many societies stress the importance of learning on their youngest members.  There's one group in South Africa that's working hard to improve the quality of education for all of the children in their country.  All children, regardless of their background or class status, suffer when they don't receive a good quality education.  But children in the poorest areas of South Africa suffer the most.  There is also still a significant problem with educational gender inequality in the country, male children are for more likely to receive and complete school than females.

These reasons are why the Agape Foundation was formed by a group of women many years ago.  They were aware of the educational problems in South Africa, so they formed Agape in order to inspire, educate, and encourage the youth of the nation.  They work with individuals who don't have the financial needs they require to receive a high quality education.  They believe that with proper education, encouragement, and attention that South Africa can become a better place for all of its citizens.

If you're interested in donating or learning more about the Agape Foundation, visit their website at:  http://www.agapefoundation.co.za/index.php

Charity King Celebrates Birthday with Generous Donation

Businesses and charities strive to earn money for different reasons, but that doesn't mean that the two institutions can't get along.  In fact many entrepreneurs have excellent relationships with charities because of their mutual dedication to certain causes.  Oprah Winfrey is famous for her generosity, the businesswoman and media personality has donated $41 million to different charities.  Alexander Bouri is the founder Seament, one of the world's leading cement trading companies, and he also spends a considerable amount of time and money supporting educational charities in the Middle East and in Africa.  Bill Gates has used the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in order to focus on the couple's many charitable causes. 

Warren Buffett is one of the richest people on the planet and is one of the world's most influential people.  Buffett is currently the chairman, CEO, and primary shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway (in 2000 it was ranked as the 8^th largest public company in the world), and is widely considered the most successful investor of the 20^th century.  Despite his near legendary success in the fields of business and finance Buffett is more well-known for his charitable contributions.   Buffett has always been a vocal supporter for charities, but his recent message that urges the rich to focus on using their fortune to help others during difficult economic times has really put his remarkable generosity in the media's spotlight.

In 2006 Buffett made the largest charitable donation in history when he announced his plans to donation 83% of his fortune to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, but he still managed to make headlines recently because of another extremely generous donation.  Buffett celebrated his 82^nd birthday by donating $600 million in company stock to his three children's various charitable causes.  His older son Howard strives to help farmers in impoverished nations and help end world hunger, his younger son Peter helps charities that focuses on helping women and girls around the world, and his daughter Susie contributes to charities that strengthen childhood education and reduce teen pregnancy.  

Buffett decided to donate the extra funds to his children's charities because he's proud of the work they've done with them.  This won't be the last donation Buffett will make.  Much of his vast fortune is already pledged to aid certain charities, but recently Buffett has been making more decisions regarding the charities that receive funds and how much money each charity will get.