sucker punch

There were millions of kids. Any company with millions of workers would have given just as much.

apples to oranges

Corporations are legally required to focus on maximizing shareholder value - not social concerns that are the province of the government. This is not greedy, wrong or nefarious. It is simply a balanced system that has developed over centuries and has ultimately led to the most successfully economic model. Ever. Look on the bright side - the kids learn empathy.

Yeah millions of kids who make no money were able to raise $10 million, but companies which profit BILLIONS of dollars couldn't give but a couple million each. Exxon had a profit of over 32 BILLION DOLLARS yet donated 13 million. That is 0.0004% of their net income...what a joke.

I now know what's WRONG with America! Even when such an extraordinarily generous and noble act is performed (such as these kids did) some idiot make the comment apples to oranges or the comment re: millions of workers and implies that it's not an incredible accomplishment. Well I for one am extreemly proud of these children. They didn't do it for recoginition or tax write-off's. They did it out of pure generosity. What a rare thing to encounter in this day and age. God Bless these children. Maybe this next generation will bring back the strong morals, ethics and principles that so many in this country have forgotten. Maybe this next generation won't be the "what's in it for "ME" generation". WELL DONE KIDS... YOU ARE A TRUE INSPIRATION!!

Apples to oranges? These companies have a ton more resources than these kids did. Corporations don't need to go door to door or have a bake sale. All they would need to do is donate a small portion of there profits (which I'm sure is also tax deductible) and it would be well more than $10 million for some companies. It is absolutely embarrassing that these selfish corporations continue to ignore their consumers in a time of tragedy and need.

TF is a great humanitarian and help these kids give money

that was so nice of you people

Is the writer proposing that companies have a moral obligation to the rest of society to always give during a natural disaster? If so, then why focus on just one disaster, rather than a year long study? And on what authority does the writer have to suggest how much money a company should give...the same logic would dictate that the writer could then suggest how much money the kids should give.

this goes to show where people's motives really are...here a part of the country the size of the UK is torn apart looking like a bomb hit it and people are trying to figure out how to make / save $$ from it..... lord help us all

I love the sentiment that corporations can exist in an amoral bubble while kids "learn empathy". I think the kids already understand empathy and it's the multi-billion dollar corporations that need to learn it.

A new definition for greed.

really!The kids already understand what empathy is,just from whose work most donations are made,who have not yet earned their living wherea those with an enormous sum of money make less donation than the kid.It seems to them that they are too busy to make any contribution for the people in great need but have precious time to spend on their life mission---money making.

I think the big surprise here is Wal Mart. With all of the criticism that Wal Mart has received, people have failed to look at their generous effort. I think you should write an article for those big companies that did help. Journalists around the country should do that. Just like you praised the children (wow what an effort). Praise the good companies.

I (am ashamed to) work for a very large corporation - large enough in fact that it could have easily given $10 million and never missed it - it wouldn't have even been a blip on the balance sheet, and would have been far less than the CEO's bonus last year. Yet, not only did the company not give even that much, it encouraged employees to report their personal donations and then took credit for them i.e. "We're proud to announce that CompanyA and its employees gave X million dollars to Katrina relief efforts". Deplorable.

And then let's talk about all the companies who's donations consisted primarily of money donated by their employees, but collected by and given in the name of the company.

I'd love to know exactly how much of the so-called corporate donations were actually comprised of the companies' own money and not the workers'.

Great!I was astonished by the kids action and power. God bless you! Well done!

Just another example of why we dont care about the poor people of New Orleans. I wonder if they ever did the same study on 9/11, how much did the children raise then.

One could legitimately argue that the companies should not be morally obligated to donate to charitable causes, just as the same arguement could be made for people. It's subjective. Kantian versus Millsian ethics could even be brought into this to complicate things (are companies who donated money purely for vanity rather than goodwill just as bad as those who didn't donate at all? Or does it not matter as long as the end result is good?)

In any case...it's not our place to say they "should" give a certain amount or be held to a standard. It's charity, not taxes!

Ayn Rand's Objectificationism is thriving in this nation. That's the viewpoint that people other than yourselves are merely object and not worthy of consideration or empathy.

Since the GOP leadership are all enthralled in that cult, there has been no rebuilding of an entire US city. Oh sure the Fed spent lots of money, hundreds of millions, but that all went to GOP profiteers that assured the Fed they would pocket the cash and not spend a dime on We, The People.

It also went to the mercenary army Blackwater. Between the original hurricane and Blackwater's shoot-to-kill orders we will never know how many people were killed in Louisiana over the past year.

Conversvatism has shown us that they would rather spend hundreds of millions of dollars to lock up displaced residents in FEMA trailer camps or guns them down on the streets.

Liberalism means having empathy for total strangers. Liberalism means spending money carefully to help people get themsleves back on their feet again. Liberlism means using the National Treasury to rebuild New Orleans and helping residents get back into their homes.

If you have empathy for strangers then you are a Liberal, like me.

I don't know, but it kinda makes me wanna go to Wal-Mart and stop on the way home and buy some Exxon gas! But bless all of those wonderful children too! ANDY