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

The kids' actions are commendable, but the sad truth is they're bailing on the Titanic. Your entire country is sinking, unless the corporations learn some social responsibility, which will never happen.

I think the take-away here is the power of small acts, and how they can multiply. It should inspire each of us to do something good, something right, every day. It gives me hope that we can address gigantic problems and effect change.

Like the song goes "Beautiful Dreamer". Now if we can only find the money trail. It's amazing how people dedicate time and money to a cause, only to find there is no way to track donations etc. The middlemen plus the overnight benefit organizations use salaries and operating costs to use the money. The speed in rebuilding New Orleans is an example of distributing the relief money.

So let me get this straight if you please.. American Children gave $10 Million to Katrina victims. Private American Charity gave >$300 Million to Tsunami victims. Both on top of what the US government covered. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Venezuela, Mexico. Made BILLIONS of $ due to the questionable increase in Gas prices. Why isnt anyone asking how much they gave to the Tsunami and Katrina victims instead of focussing on US corporations? Sorry I would prefer my company figure out a way to keep jobs in America instead of China and INdia than give money to the idiots who did not bug out.

How much did you give?

4000 kids baked cookies and washed cars and raised nearly 1200 dollars each(avg).

Money raised from regular people, small businesses...etc.

All of the donations mentioned herewithin, corporate and randomkid....are nothing compared to the amount of money the insurance companies are NOT paying; practicing fraudulant claims adjusting!!!!

This reporter acts as though companies don't give money to other charities beyond Katrina. Maybe they can actually do some real investigative journalism and see how much big companies give to ALL causes, i.e. education, hunger, etc. You could write the same story about corporations not giving as much money for 911 or for tsunami relief as other charitable groups raised - where would it end?

It's great that these kids raised so much money and it's an achievement worth publicizing. They deserve their own story, not a few lines in a drive-by attack on corporations.

"Corporations are legally required to focus on maximizing shareholder value."

A common myth, but not true at all. Corporations can do anything they want. If they wish to focus on maximiizing wealth, that's their choice. If they're "required" to focus on maximizing shareholder wealth, then that's only because they chose to put that into their corporate bylaws. It's not a government requirement.

There's no law _requiring_ people to be greedy. It's all choice. If they wish to focus on other goals, they have the freedom to do that as well. There are lots of individuals and companies that do focus on other things, Paul Newman's food company to name one.

In my view, corporations should not be required to care about social goals or contribute to the common good. Not unless they take advantage of tax deductions and other programs designed by the people to promote the common good. Once they do that of course, then they are morally obligated to return the favor. The deductions aren't given to promote profits, but to promote the common good.

The kids raising that money are certainly to be commended, but the article is just plain wrong when it was reported that individual corporations didn't contribute just as much, if not more. Take for example Cisco Systems. In addition to the direct relief aid there were other more long term aid that stems directly from the disaster, such as $40 mill to rebuild Mississippi and Louisiana schools.
That is just one instance I know about. However, I imagine it's more sensational to simply compare short term donations and givings than long term investments in rebuilding.

I bet Walmart and those oil companies are kicking themselves now, knowing that they could have got away with donating less.

Next disaster like this, I'm sure we'll see donations from industry of very equal amounts....

Victims of Katrina or world corporations
Like mindless American consumer puppets we keep waving our flags while in third world countries like Lebanon, after Israel’s retaliation for Hezbollah’s attack’s, I saw this terrorist group hand out twelve thousand dollars in cash to displaced families, and their homes will be rebuilt by these terrorists! While in America, in New Orleans after many of the poor were left to die and the displaced families received a few hundred dollars. The reality is most of the homes of elderly and widowed will never be rebuilt, but I am sure someone will benefit from a future urban renewal of shopping centers casinos and Mac-millionaire homes. After all this is America is the home of promises of freedom, and the freedom to suffer and to be victimized by the capitalists who build fortunes off others misery and misfortunes. God bless.
Some of you will tell me if I don’t love America to leave it, but I tell you that you do support the greatest country ever founded but has been taken over and subverted by a now corrupt political system, run by corrupted politicians who are owned and paid for by world these corporations, the same fine people who gave our Congress thirty three thousand vacations last year and thousands in political contributions, has anyone ever gave your family a vacation. And don’t forget the after congress jobs worth millions in salaries. Why do these corporations give our legislators gifts? These corporations now write ever piece of legislation through their proxies in congress. The corporations is who Congress represents now, not you! Thanks to the corporate lobbyists and corrupt Politian’s.

REMINDER: Exxon has yet to pay for the Alaska oil spill and that happened in 1989. If Exxon rebuilt everything in New Orleans, it would still not relieve them from their responsibility for one of the worst man-made environmental disasters in history. They're just hoping that we will all develop amnesia, and it looks like we have done just that. We as individuals are responsible for our actions 24/7, 365. Giant, bloated corporations have gotten away with picking and choosing how and when to Do The Right Thing, based on how it will be received by the public. And we have been letting them get away with it, too, long before the Exxon Valez ran aground. Let's throw out the greedy CEOs and put the kids in charge.

"The child is father of the man"
Children are teaching us, reminding us, and walking the walk of generosity for one reason and one reason only - They want to help people who really need help. We all need to embrace that and share in the simplicity and sincerity of their hearts. Big business doesn't belong to us - but our hearts do. Sharing - what a concept!
God Bless these children for doing what their hearts told them to do...

Keep up the Hurricane Katrina donations by supporting the one year anniversary event in New Orleans. They're auctioning off celebrity jewelry to raise money for the Wynton Marsalis Rebuild the Soul of America Trust. You can view celebrity jewels up for auction at Adler's Jewelry on Canal Street.

Simply a PR move, nothing more. Phillip Morris gives out a lot of money too, are they a super-awesome-do the right thing-company? no, but they want to think they are. phillip morris once gave a couple hundred grand to some chairty and then spent millions of $$$ telling everyone about them giving away some chump change (to them it is).

the only purpose of giving money like this is so ppl just like the ppl on this board will say "gee willakers, that was really nice of them to do that, maybe i should shop at ______ from now on."

Think for yourselves.

THESE COMPANIES BETTER HOPE THEY DONT NEED HELP IN THE FUTURE, REMEMBER EVERYTHING THAT GOES UP MUST COME DOWN.GOD BLESS THESE CHILDREN AND ALL THEIR EFFORT.

Hi%2C+everybodyv

First off, the people, of this country have given and cared and still do care about New Orleans and those affected by the hurricane. I am a New Orleans resident and native and love this city, and we appreciate the tremendous outpouring of help.

As for corporate America and government (all levels local, state and fed.)they have all underwhelmed me with their ability to affect the rebuilding process. I realize that corporations are in business to make a profit, but, you whould thing some major corporation would "SEPT UP" and locate a manufacturing plant or sometime in the area because what we need to rebuild this city is JOBS! No, they would rather we fill-out the endless amount of forms and play their bureaucratic b.s. I guess it's ok to send us charity, but, the jobs go to the home state of the Senator who does that industies bidding regularly. And that my GOOD Americans is how it goes! Corporate America, surpise me and STEP-UP and show what you're made of!!!!

Very good web site. Great work and thank you for your service.