Il faut apprendre à aimer les pétits dons

Cet homme qui mendie dans les rues de New York est en réalité un riche retraité.

Il ne faut pas mépriser les petits dons quand on a la chance de travailler pour une association en mesure de recevoir des dons et legs.

Déjà, en mensualisant les petits donateurs, comme le font très bien les remarquables professionnels de l'association brésilienne Tradition Famille Propriété (TFP), on réussit à transformer un don occasionnel de 20 euros en un don annuel de 120 euros, grâce à des prélèvements indolores de 10 euros par mois.

Mais la vraie richesse des donateurs modestes réside dans leur patrimoine. Une personne « pauvre », par le simple fait de résider dans un logement qui lui appartient, pèse bien plus que tous les dons qu'elle a pu faire tout au long de sa vie.

Il suffit de lire les comptes annuels des grandes associations caritatives pour constater le poids des donations et des legs.

L'évolution de la démographie fait que de plus en plus de personnes arrivent en âge « mature » et sont en de bonnes dispositions pour accepter des propositions d'associations caritatives pour disposer de leurs biens après leur décès.

Enfin, il existe des personnes dont on ne soupçonne pas la richesse comme nous le rappelle cet article du Daily Mail.

Un mendiant qui cache bien son jeu.

The world's richest panhandler: Man who begs for money on New York streets  revealed to be legendary comedian living in $3.5m home (but he gives it all to charity)

By RACHEL QUIGLEY

Comedian: 97-year-old Prof Irwin Corey panhandles along Manhattan's East 35th Street every day
Hobbling along between cars in his walker, asking for change and proffering free newspapers in return, it is hard to believe he was once known as 'The World's Foremost Authority'.

Professor Irwin Corey, comedian, actor and left-wing political activist, strolls along Manhattan's East 35th Street pan-handling every day, seven days a week, for the last 17 years.

Of course professor Corey - who has enjoyed a long and illustrious career spanning Broadway, television, theatre and comedy clubs - does not need the money.
In fact he is not even homeless, despite his scruffy, scrawny appearance, but has an apartment in an affluent area of New York which he believes to be worth $3.5million.
His reasons for posing as a homeless down-and-outer and hassling drivers for change are two-fold: Since his wife of seventy years Fran died in May he said it helps beat the loneliness.
The 97-year-old also donates all the money he raises - sometimes up to $250 a day - to a charity that buys medical supplies for children in Cuba.
Over his eight-decade career, he has worked alongside Jackie Gleason and Woody Allen and appeared on Late Night with David Letterman.
In fact he still performs fairly regularly and told the New York Times that he flew to Chicago a week ago to play two nights at a local club.

Mr Corey has cultivated his 'professor' charade since the 1940s, with his trademark black tails, a string tie, high-top sneakers and scarecrow hairdo.

Though his stage persona is known more of its witty one-liners, put down of hecklers and nonsensical observations, he is mild-mannered to those who give him money on the street, always expressing gratitude and telling them: 'See you later, alligator.'

Mr Corey has travelled to Cuba to donate personally, he said, and has photographs on his wall with Fidel Castro, alongside one of him on the David Letterman show in 1982, and with the likes of the comedian Dick Gregory and the actor Ossie Davis.

Famous friends: The comedian and noted communist anarchist, far left, met Fidel Castro when he was in Cuba donating money to charity

Day's work: Mr Corey returns home every afternoon with bulging pockets to count out his takings before putting them in bundles ready to be donated