A city businessman has issued a call to the local business community to create “more structured arrangements” for supporting worthwhile charitable causes including institutions, families and individuals in need since, he says, these can actually redound to the benefit of the business community as a whole.
“I am not suggesting that there are not businesses in Guyana who consistently give to worthwhile causes. The fact of the matter is, however, that there are scores of institutions and thousands of families that desperately need help and I believe that the private sector can create a more structured arrangement that can ensure a more equitable distribution of support to the needy. I believe, too, that where charitable gestures are directed at education and at creative ventures the private sector is actually investing in skills that are needed for the development of the society, Ron Morrison, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mori J’Von, the sole distributor for Hanes apparel told Stabroek Business earlier this week.
Morrison who disclosed that late last year his company had donated more than $300,000 worth of material to the Palms on Brickdam said he was deeply moved by the conditions at the institution. “Dire is the most appropriate word I can think of to describe the conditions at the Palms. The lack of basic material with which to take care of people who cannot help themselves actually places both the employees and the inmates at risk.” Morrison told Stabroek Business that while he recognized that the upkeep of the Palms was the responsibility of government, he considered it “unacceptable” that more was not being done by the private sector to help alleviate such extreme suffering. “Institutions like the Palms and others that are concerned with the care of the sick, the elderly and homeless children ought to be on the radar of the business community. The occasional gift package is nowhere near enough. As part of their day to day operations the various private sector umbrella bodies ought to create structures to ensure that these institutions receive help on a regular basis.
Morrison, whose company also makes donations to various other organizations told Stabroek Business that children in need, whether they be in care or in families, ought to be able to rely on some measure from the private sector, “The private sector needs to see the provision of support to needy children as an investment in a better quality of society, one in which those children can be afforded a better quality of education, for example, through which the skills available to the private sector can be maximized. It really makes little sense for the private sector to express concern about the loss of skills and its impact on the performance of the productive sector if we are not prepared to invest in the potential that exists,” Morrison said.
According to Morrison giving is not only about charity. “We need to stop thinking of ourselves simply as good citizens and see the role that our generosity can play in helping to create just the kind of stable society in which we can do better business,” he added.
And according to Morrison while many charitable donations by business houses were linked to “the attendant publicity,” more businesses need to develop relationships with worthwhile causes that “derive from a moral commitment” to helping the less fortunate. “While no one can deny that business is about profit and about creating gain for the investor, the mission of business is also to create a more worthwhile society. I believe that giving to those in need is an investment in the creation of a more worthwhile society,” Morrison added.
