BY DAVE PRICE
Daily Post Editor
I’ve heard from people who scoffed at the $50,000 Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Dr. Priscilla Chan gave to the Friends of the Palo Alto Parks last week.
They complained that this billionaire could have easily made a larger donation. Forbes magazine estimates his net worth at $221 billion. So the complainers said that $50,000 is nothing to him.
I think $50,000 is a significant donation. It will help a nonprofit, volunteer-run group that improves Palo Alto’s parks. This group has a long list of accomplishments. Friends of the Palo Alto Parks was the driving force in raising money for the Magical Bridge in Mitchell Park, a playground for children of all abilities.
Zuckerberg isn’t exactly the most beloved person in Palo Alto. His dispute with his neighbors exploded into an expose in the New York Times last August, where many of them complained anonymously about the noise and loss of parking they’ve experienced as he bought up neighboring homes to create a compound.
But underneath it all, Zuckerberg is a human being. What if this donation of $50,000 is Zuckerberg’s way of saying he loves the community as much as other residents? It wouldn’t hurt if Palo Altans showed they were grateful. What do we have to lose? For one thing, it might lead to more philanthropy by this couple.
Editor Dave Price’s column appears on Mondays.
If there’s one thing Palo Altans love to do, it’s hate. Especially on people who are doing more for the world than they are.
More billionaire bootlicking
The donation is a little like asking your boss for a raise and he gives you an increase of one penny an hour. Yeah, it’s a raise. 40 cents a week.
Thank you Mark and Priscilla. The $50,000 dollars may be chump change to Mark and Priscilla, but it means a lot to the Friends of the Palo Alto Parks. This money will help all the resident of Palo Alto in some small way. I doubt these people posting negativity would turn down $50,000 if Mark and Priscilla offered it to them.
Of course the Zukers couldn’ve given more. OR they could’ve not given a cent. It was nice that they contributed. I will listen to complaints about their gift FROM ANYONE WHO HAS GIVEN MORE. Other folks can find more constructive things to do with their mortal lives than complain about the generosity of those that contribute more to society than themselves.