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CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – George Michael, the singer, died a rich man. His net worth was $128-million.
After his death in 2016, his extraordinary level of charitable giving became known. He’d asked the people who received gifts from him not to tell anyone while he was alive.
George Michael was the patron and co-founder of Swan Lifeline, an animal rescue. He was the largest donor to the Macmillan Cancer Trust and the Terrence Higgins Trust. One is a charity for children with cancer, the other for gay youth who are kicked out of their homes. Several people he’d met randomly received generous gifts. While appearing on three reality shows, he paid the medical bills of three contestants. He was the anonymous donor who funded his hometown’s Christmas lights and its summer street carnival for years. The checks said “from a local resident”. There’s a waitress who said that he left a $7,000 tip after lunch to pay her debts.
The lawyer who runs his estate says much of his charitable giving continues, even now, from the interest that his fortune earns. The lawyer suggests there are dozens, perhaps a hundred people, who’ve received gifts from George Michael and to this day don’t know where the money came from.
I was never much of a George Michael fan. He was undeniably talented. I was turned off by his drug use and his sexual promiscuity. Today, I think of him differently.
I, too, have given gifts to people I know anonymously. They never found out.
It’s biblical. Jesus said “give with one hand in such a way that the other doesn’t know what it’s going.”
Being generous makes you feel good inside. Giving anonymously, without getting any credit, feels wonderful. You should try it.
Chris Conley
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