Oprah's $40 Million School To Open

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#61
Kimm992 said:
I don't know that anyone here is trying to tell Oprah how to spend her money....but I think that some of us just think that her 40 million could have been better spent.
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And that equates to telling her how to spend her money.

swanky, I would not expect you to agree with me on the matter of where she gave her money. Suffice it to say however, I think poeple don't like the idea of THESE children being exposed to the finer things in life. And that is sad. They try to cover that attitude by screaming about education, but guess what? The kids WILL be getting an education. Would you feel better if they slept on prison cots with prison issue sheets and had one big yard with weeds and grass to play in. Maybe with a basketball hoop? :rolleyes:

I also want to add that perhaps Oprah is branching out to Africa because of the types of attitues shown here on this thread. When she does give in the US, it is criticized. If she gives 30million, why didn't she give 40? If she chooses one school, why didn't she choose the other school? and on and on it goes.
 
#62
This woman puts her money where her mouth is...how presumptuous to criticize her about doing good! How many people would even consider donating such a large amount...and I don't believe she is done...I'm sure she will continue to support the school, build more, and admit more children.


There are a just a few EXTREMELY wealthy people in this country who donate VERY large amounts of money to the impoverished - rather than criticize them, I applaud them.
 
#63
bisbee said:
This woman puts her money where her mouth is...how presumptuous to criticize her about doing good! How many people would even consider donating such a large amount...and I don't believe she is done...I'm sure she will continue to support the school, build more, and admit more children.


There are a just a few EXTREMELY wealthy people in this country who donate VERY large amounts of money to the impoverished - rather than criticize them, I applaud them.
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I agree.
And you know, this all brings to mind those charity balls in a certain wealthy town in this country that shall remain nameless. The wealthy citizens of this town throw lavish charity balls, but in the end, don't donate even HALF the amount they SPENT to actually put on the ball. For instance it may cost $500k to have the ball, but the check they give to the charity will be for $37k. Now THAT is when people should be critical. But because it is being done in the US, I suppose it is okay. :rolleyes: Now THAT is frivolous spending as opposed to Oprah spending money to provide whole body wellness for these children in Africa.
 
#64
nathansgirl1908 said:
In other words, you want her to do what is typical and stretch her money too thin to the point where it's not really doing any good.



And why are you ladies begrudging these children yoga and other great experiences? ALL children need exercise. Are you not aware of that? Instead of having a snotty attitude about it, look at it as one of many forms of PE. AMERICAN children have PE.
I agree with the poster who said that black children should be exposed to more than just basketball and football. Some of you seem to forget that sometimes the best education is EXPOSURE. Exposure to aspects of culture.
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40 Million could help ALOT more children without "stretching her money too thin" come on....

I'm not trying to begrudge anyone anything....all I'm saying is....while she's providing 150 kids with yoga lessons there are thousands more that could have been helped instead. I personally would rather see a thousand more kids have access to education than provide 150 with yoga lessons....but that's just me!!

I'm also NOT saying that exposure to yoga is a BAD thing...again, I think people are missing my point.
 
#66
nathansgirl1908 said:
swanky, I would not expect you to agree with me on the matter of where she gave her money.
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:confused1: I'm not sure what you're talking about? I think you have selective reading! LOL!
I said I pretty much agree w/ EVERYTHING you've written!
Just not about the one thing I mentioned:
Although I agree w/ most of what you've posted in this thread, I don't agree w/ this.
I think people's problem is that she's spending it outside the US at all, I don't think it makes a difference if it's Africa or Iceland.
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#68
Kimm992 said:
40 Million could help ALOT more children without "stretching her money too thin" come on....

I'm not trying to begrudge anyone anything....all I'm saying is....while she's providing 150 kids with yoga lessons there are thousands more that could have been helped instead. I personally would rather see a thousand more kids have access to education than provide 150 with yoga lessons....but that's just me!!

I'm also NOT saying that exposure to yoga is a BAD thing...again, I think people are missing my point.
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NO one said you think yoga is a bad thing. But you are imssing the points other people are making. Let's reiterate:
1. This is just the start of the venture. It is going to grow.
2. When you educate people, part of their education is exposure to different things.
3. yoga is not inconsequential. It is a form of PE and ALL kids need PE in their school curriculum. Perhaps if we had more things like this in our school curriculums, studies wouldn't show how overweight the average American student is in school. Kids need more than the typical sports. And I think you are focusing too much on the yoga aspect. Yoga isn't going to take up 75% of the budget. So having yoga doesn't necessarily take away significantly from other children.



Oprah wanted to provide these girls with real comfort and quality. They need that. I'm happy that she's done this and no matter how constructive you think your remarks are, the fact of the matter is that they are unnecessary criticism of a wonderful act of generosity. One I don't seriously think you have done yourself, whether you have traveled over there or not. I'm glad Oprah isn't one of those celebrities who just throws her money at people without any real involvement. It shows TRUE concern.
 
#69
I don't understand the criticism...What don't you understand???

This is JUST THE BEGINNING...I'm sure she did not spend forty million on a school that houses 150...She just started with 150. THERE WILL BE MORE TO COME. Can we just get that through our heads? And I totally agree with nathansgirl...yoga is no different than gym class.
 
#70
nathansgirl1908 said:
NO one said you think yoga is a bad thing. But you are imssing the points other people are making. Let's reiterate:
1. This is just the start of the venture. It is going to grow.
2. When you educate people, part of their education is exposure to different things.
3. yoga is not inconsequential. It is a form of PE and ALL kids need PE in their school curriculum. Perhaps if we had more things like this in our school curriculums, studies wouldn't show how overweight the average American student is in school. Kids need more than the typical sports. And I think you are focusing too much on the yoga aspect. Yoga isn't going to take up 75% of the budget. So having yoga doesn't necessarily take away significantly from other children.



Oprah wanted to provide these girls with real comfort and quality. They need that. I'm happy that she's done this and no matter how constructive you think your remarks are, the fact of the matter is that they are unnecessary criticism of a wonderful act of generosity. One I don't seriously think you have done yourself, whether you have traveled over there or not. I'm glad Oprah isn't one of those celebrities who just throws her money at people without any real involvement. It shows TRUE concern.
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I see the points you are making but I still don't agree and no matter what I say I suspect you're not going to agree with me either....so I'll end it at this.

However, I don't feel you're at liberty to say what acts of generosity I've partaken in. Sure I don't have 40 million dollars to throw around....but I have donated a significant amount of my time and resources for many years now doing work in various countries in Africa, spending time with these people and hearing first hand what their needs are....
 
#71
Kimm992 said:
However, I don't feel you're at liberty to say what acts of generosity I've partaken in. Sure I don't have 40 million dollars to throw around....but I have donated a significant amount of my time and resources for many years now doing work in various countries in Africa, spending time with these people and hearing first hand what their needs are....
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You know what's funny? Oprah HAS spent time with them too, heard what their needs are, AND HAS the 40 million dollars to throw around. I find it absurd that you really think that you know more about what they need and how to meet those needs than Oprah. Let's be real. Oprah has not gotten where she has in life by being stupid. She tends to make very sound financial decisions. I'm sure she knew best how to make her money have the biggest impact. And since YOU have the liberty to declare that Oprah didn't do enough with her money, I also have the liberty to comment about your acts of generosity that you may or may not have participated in. :rolleyes:

And finally, I have to wonder exactly WHY it is do difficult for YOU to understand that the school is going to grow to serve more than 150 girls. I simply suspect you just want to complain about something. Perhaps you don't like Oprah. Perhaps you wish you could take yoga and can't. I don't know. But it seems an awful lot like you just begrudge these children a few luxuries. It's that simple. And an attitude like THAT is not generous at all.
 
#72
nathansgirl1908 said:
You know what's funny? Oprah HAS spent time with them too, heard what their needs are, AND HAS the 40 million dollars to throw around. I find it absurd that you really think that you know more about what they need and how to meet those needs than Oprah. Let's be real. Oprah has not gotten where she has in life by being stupid. She tends to make very sound financial decisions. I'm sure she knew best how to make her money have the biggest impact. And since YOU have the liberty to declare that Oprah didn't do enough with her money, I also have the liberty to comment about your acts of generosity that you may or may not have participated in. :rolleyes:

And finally, I have to wonder exactly WHY it is do difficult for YOU to understand that the school is going to grow to serve more than 150 girls. I simply suspect you just want to complain about something. Perhaps you don't like Oprah. Perhaps you wish you could take yoga and can't. I don't know. But it seems an awful lot like you just begrudge these children a few luxuries. It's that simple. And an attitude like THAT is not generous at all.
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Clearly I've said something that has made you feel the need to become hostile. That was not my intention. If you genuinely think the things you have said in this response then you're obviously missing any point I was trying to make.

It's a shame that you have turned what I thought was a friendly debate into a personal attack.
 
#73
Kimm992 said:
Clearly I've said something that has made you feel the need to become hostile. That was not my intention. If you genuinely think the things you have said in this response then you're obviously missing any point I was trying to make.

It's a shame that you have turned what I thought was a friendly debate into a personal attack.
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It's a shame when someone can't handle the truth and falls back on the old argument that someone is being hostile and making personal attacks. I'm not hostile towards you. It's not that serious. What I don't like is when someone is complaining about philanthropic acts of others, and they aren't contributing anything of the same magnitude.




I also want to add that swanky was right in an earlier post. Many of the people who DO complain about her giving money outside the US don't just limit the purchases they make to goods purchased in the US. Purse forum ladies are clearly buying purses that are made in other countries.

And finally I want to add that I think any members who have criticized how Oprah spent her money should consider how they feel when people criticize them for owning such expensive bags. Haven't we had many discussions about people in our lives who tell us we shouldn't waste so much money on a bag, but should put that money to better use? And haven't we said that we can buy our bags AND give money to worthy causes? Either way, that's something that needs to be remembered when you start griping about Oprah's choices.
 
#75
nathansgirl1908 said:
It's a shame when someone can't handle the truth and falls back on the old argument that someone is being hostile and making personal attacks. I'm not hostile towards you. It's not that serious. What I don't like is when someone is complaining about philanthropic acts of others, and they aren't contributing anything of the same magnitude.




I also want to add that swanky was right in an earlier post. Many of the people who DO complain about her giving money outside the US don't just limit the purchases they make to goods purchased in the US. Purse forum ladies are clearly buying purses that are made in other countries.

And finally I want to add that I think any members who have criticized how Oprah spent her money should consider how they feel when people criticize them for owning such expensive bags. Haven't we had many discussions about people in our lives who tell us we shouldn't waste so much money on a bag, but should put that money to better use? And haven't we said that we can buy our bags AND give money to worthy causes? Either way, that's something that needs to be remembered when you start griping about Oprah's choices.
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I'm not falling back on anything. You made rude personal remarks about me for no reason...this is what people do when THEY can't handle the truth and can't make a mature and reasonable argument...they become hostile and rude.

You're right...I'm not contributing in the same magnitude as Oprah...I don't have 40 million dollars....but that doesn't mean I have to agree with her. There are also MANY other ways to contribute and as I said before, I have spent a significant amount of time and personal resources in Africa and have spent enough time with these people that I feel I have an educated opinion about this topic.

People telling us we're wasting money on bags and people thinking Oprah's money could have been better used in Africa are not even remotely the same thing.
 
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