Photo: Kevin Tachman (Getty Images for Vogue)
Each and every day, we stumble upon baffling news ($1,500 ice cream sundaes?!). Then there’s news that makes us want to give up on humanity.
Case in point, a fundraiser has been started to give Kylie Jenner $100 million. In case you’ve been on a multi-day Fortnite binge, Forbes recently said the 20-year-old could be the world’s youngest self-made billionaire after revealing her cosmetic company has raked in $900 million.
thank you @Forbes for this article and the recognition. I’m so blessed to do what i love everyday. #KylieCosmetics pic.twitter.com/CRBwlBByk9
— Kylie Jenner (@KylieJenner) July 11, 2018
People immediately started questioning the so-called “self-made” status. After all, she comes from possibly the most famous family in reality television. With hella capital and a platform that envies our current President, Jenner isn’t anything like a 23-year-old Mark Zuckerberg who exploded in wealth after creating Facebook.
But what’s tremendously unsettling is that Jenner has enough fanatics to warrant a GoFundMe attempting to get her that last $100 million (and the coveted billionaire status).
If you’ll recall, this was also once a thing: Help Kanye West Get Out Of Debt Using This GoFundMe Page
From the creator:
Kylie Jenner was on the cover of Forbes Magazine today for having a net worth of 900 million dollars, which is heartbreaking. I don’t want to live in a world where Kylie Jenner doesn’t have a billion dollars. WE MUST RAISE 100 MILLION DOLLARS TO HELP HER GET TO A BILLION, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD, THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.
No, “extremely important” is donating bone marrow to save a child’s life. Or giving money to help a low-income family to send their teenager to college. It’s lending a helping hand at a local food kitchen. It’s buying your dad a McRib when he’s hangry and about to go all Homer Simpson on you. Hell, we’d rather see you give money to someone struggling through college debt.
“Extremely important” can mean a lot of things, but it’s not adding more money to the pockets of a multi-millionaire.
Aside from the egregious lack of ethics regarding the aforementioned “campaign” — and the fact that giving her money would eliminate any remaining aspect of her “self-made” status — below are actual, extremely important causes in which to give your money.
Josh’s Take
The following are non-profits that were either recommended by my personal friends and family or have an A+ rating by Charity Watch.
- Walk to End Alzheimer’s
- The American Heart Association
- NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.
- Make an appointment to donate your blood.
- Help the homeless. Here’s one great organization in Kansas City.
- Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
- The Special Olympics.
- Prevent Child Abuse.
- St. Jude.
- Unbound.
- Relay For Life.
- Donate to encourage Fair Trade.
- Donate to your local animal shelter.
My wife and I are even raising money to Tackle Kids Cancer.
I would like to think any sane person would rather set their hair on fire than “donate” to an effort to further enrich a millionaire. If there’s any good to come out of such a ridiculous endeavor, let’s make sure it’s at the benefit of things that actually matter.
Josh Helmuth is a sports reporter who contributes to Mandatory.
