Feel good story
"The citizens of Erie, Pennsylvania, refer to him - or her - simply as The Friend. And that is all they want to know.
In return for nothing more than guaranteed anonymity, this friend has benefited a small, ordinary city in the heart of America's rust-belt with an extraordinary act of altruism - a $100m charitable bonanza. . . And, because it is concentrated in one area, with a population of only 102,000, the $100m donation will have a huge impact.
. .
The city, once a manufacturing base that included steel and iron, is a victim of globalisation, with many factories closing in the last decade. The poverty rate is about 19%, twice the US average.
Erie's $100m is being divided between 46 charities, mainly those dealing with the homeless, abused women, the blind, alcohol and drug addiction - from the City Mission and the Salvation Army to the Sisters of Mercy Motherhouse. They will each receive up to $2m, starting in 2009.
Mr Batchelor, 52, who has worked at the foundation for 17 years, keeps a box of tissues near his desk. They have been useful in the last two months as he called in each charity to inform them of their windfall. One of the organisations he told was to receive $2m, the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Erie County, normally only has an annual income of $10,000.
Another recipient, Kitty Cancilla, of the Community Shelter Services for the Homeless, said she was among those who cried. "Our jaws dropped and stayed dropped for five minutes. We just did not believe it."
Ms Cancilla, 66, who has worked at the organisation for 26 years, said it has struggled to raise the $200,000 it needs annually to provide 55 shelter beds and feed 1,000 people a day at a soup kitchen, a third of them children." [Link: Rust belt city celebrates a $100m gift from the Friend they will never know | The Guardian | Guardian Unlimited.]
