Warren Buffett's Sisiter Gives A Helping Hand

I recently heard Warren Buffett was giving away money to those in need. What I found, when I search the news sites online was that it wasn't him, but his sister. The video (from CBS) below, is an interesting watch, as is the the clip of text from Philanthropy News Digest.

I especially liked MS. Buffett's comment in the article.

Yet, like her brother, Buffett is extremely frugal, even in her generosity. "We're supposed to empower, but not enable," she said. "It's a fine line, and I think it makes [recipients] more responsible in the end."

After pledging more than $35 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation last year, Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO Warren Buffett received boxes full of letters from individuals asking for money, the Wall Street Journal reports. He, in turn, forwarded them to his sister, Doris, whom he knew he could trust to give them a sympathetic hearing.

Doris Buffett estimates that the Sunshine Lady Foundation she established in Wilmington, North Carolina, has received more than three thousand letters from her brother's office and has awarded at least $1.4 million to more than three hundred people — an average of about $4,800 each. Volunteers assembled from an informal network of friends screen the letters, and part-time assistants verify the writers' claims, requesting tax returns, medical records, and other third-party verification, including notes from attorneys, pastors, or employers. Possible recipients, who never receive enough to solve all their financial needs, must also verify that they receive all the government assistance for which they are eligible.

The Wall Street Journal also wrote an article entitled The Other Buffett, which was an interesting read.