Carnegie Corporation Announces Philanthropy Awards

The Carnegie Corporation, in New York, has awarded two of this year’s Andrew Carnegie Medals of Philanthropy to the Mellon and Heinz families, of Pittsburgh, for their legacy of philanthropy, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Also receiving Carnegie medals were the Tata family, of India, and Eli Broad, of Los Angeles.

However, one charity expert criticizes such awards for recognizing extremely wealthy people at the expense of people who give despite not having considerable resources. Writing in the Guardian Unlimited, Beth Breeze argues that the term “philanthropist” should apply to anyone who uses his or her money to help society benefit.

Even so, she admits the prizes play some useful role. She writes, “Awarding gongs, such as the Carnegie medal, may be interpreted as unduly rewarding rich givers while overlooking the real sacrifices made by ordinary donors, but its ultimate aim is to create philanthropic role models and encourage more of the have-yachts to help the have-nots.”