Today I attended two events both of which were focused on the need for and value of phil­an­thropy in greater Los Ange­les. There were about 75 peo­ple in these two meet­ings and the entire focus was on orga­ni­za­tions and projects focused gen­er­ally on peo­ple we don’t know. That’s right, peo­ple being involved to help their fel­low man, peo­ple we may never meet, we may never know. These are peo­ple who sim­ply want an oppor­tu­nity for a good, safe and sim­ple life. Not too much to ask, espe­cially in a coun­try as pros­per­ous as ours. And yet, it seems to elude so many.