The Salvation Army Receives $1M From Billionaire Forrest

Mining billionaire Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest has shown how you do philanthropy at the big end of town: put a million bucks on the table and challenge everyone in the room to match it.

And when the room is full of some of the country's richest and best-connected business people, meeting that challenge is a matter of pride.

So it was that The Salvation Army kicked off their 2013 Red Shield Appeal with a tidy $2 million from one high-powered Sydney lunch on Thursday.

Mr Forrest and his wife Nicola are no strangers to giving away large chunks of their estimated $6 billion wealth.

This year they signed a Giving Pledge - an initiative of US billionaires Warren Buffet and Bill Gates - to give away at least half of their family's fortune.

The Fortescue Metals chairman, who has stepped down from day to day running of the iron ore company that created his fortune to focus on his philanthropy, said the final giveaway will be in the vicinity of the 99 per cent of personal wealth suggested by Mr Buffett.

Mrs Forrest said it was a family decision, taken with their children.

"They are very comfortable that they are not going to inherit great wealth," Mrs Forrest said during a question-and-answer session alongside her husband at the lunch.

"We all said it's like a kind of child abuse to leave too much money to your children and almost like another form of welfare, that they don't think they have to get up and look after themselves."

Mr Forrest said that, despite reports to the contrary, he believes Australians are generous donors to charity.

But he wants donors to be more forthcoming and media more encouraging.

Many in the room heard his message and collectively more than matched his $1 million offer.

Among them was businessman and Sydney Red Shield Appeal chairman Roger Massy-Greene, who announced that he and his wife, QBE chairwoman Belinda Hutchinson, were doubling their donation to $200,000.

The Red Shield Appeal hopes to raise $79 million nationally.

The NSW government has donated $200,000, while the federal government chipped in $350,000.
The Salvos helped more than 17,000 people find jobs last year, found 4600 beds for people sleeping rough each week, and distributed more than 6,000 food packages or vouchers to families in need.

Source:  http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/latest/16681659/salvation-army-red-shield-appeal-launched/