When Greed Gives Way to Giving

    

                                                     

                                                               Bob and Ellen Thomspon

   The story "When Greed Gives Way to Giving,” written by columnist Ana Veciana-Suarez, is an incredible story.  This man is a true a gem.  After the sale of his company, he made a hefty profit on his transaction.  Instead of walking away with all the money, he chose to celebrate his workers, some retirees, and widows.  To his workers, they were beside themselves when they were part of dividing $128 million.

Thompson was not born into money; on the contrary, he built his business by hard work and determination. He started out with only $3500 in his pocket and he began to build his dream company. Thompson could have had anything he could ever want in his life.  He could buy just about anything. There are things in ones life that you cannot buy.  You cannot buy love, heath, or respect, Thompson had all of them things.

     After reading this story, I needed to know more about the Thompson family, so I did a little research.  In my research, I found that not only was he generous with the group of people who worked for him, but was generous with his money in other ways. The year he sold his company, he and his wife Ellen founded the Thompson Foundation with $100 million from the sale of the Thompson-McCully Company. His main goal with the foundation is to help the low-income rise out of poverty and become self-reliant. He set up scholarships for the inner city kids.

There are so many lessons the Thompson has taught us all.  I feel that his motto could have been, “You can’t receive, unless you give.”

      During these hard times in this Country, it is getting harder and harder for people to donate money; furthermore, half this country is unemployed.  There are things people can donate without reaching into their pockets. The could give their time at a local food bank, a hospice center and The Red Cross.

            My hope is that all the workers who benifited by the generosity from Thompson, that they pay it forward. I hope they have dontated a percentage of there new windfall to there local United Way, Salvation Army or just pay for a proverty stricken child through school, including a 4 year college.