Staring Down The Mouth Of A Gift Horse...

     I guess this is just my week to be tacky, heartless, and a snob...just accept it...I have.  Maybe next week I will return to my kind and loving self...wherever THAT person went!

     Today, my Multiple Sclerosis search engine churned out an interesting article coming from California.  It's actually from a TV station news snippet and here's a copy:

 

Multiple Sclerosis Society receives donation from APW

Video
Posted 10/6/06
BAKERSFIELD - The American Petroleum Wives Club of Bakersfield will give back to charity.

The women held several fundraisers and raised more than $26,000 for the Multiple Sclerosis Society, and honored them with the check at the Seven Oaks Country Club.

The American Petroleum Wives Organization is for women who are in the oil business, or have family in the oil business, which demands constant relocation to help them get acclimated to the community.

     My mother always told me never to look a gift horse in the mouth...I've tried to live by her creed as best as possible, but this article was just TOO eye catching.  WHO THE HECK ARE THE AMERICAN PETROLEUM WIVE'S CLUB??!!!???

     Not wanting to jump to any hasty conclusions or visuals of OIL COMPANY EXECUTIVE'S WIVES sitting around an elegant spread at a 5 star restaurant, catered to by "ethnic servants", in some Southern-type establishment, I decided to do a search on exactly WHO IS this charitable donor to the NMSS?  As you might guess, I didn't find much.  I did find this link to the same organization in the Netherlands:   http://www.pwc-thehague.com/ 

     Too lazy to hit the link?  Here's their website snippet:

The Petroleum Wives Club (PWC) is formed from a group of women whose husbands or partners are employed by, or otherwise are active for, oil companies and related petro-chemical industries. We meet regularly throughout the year for a variety of social, cultural and charitable functions including coffee mornings, guided walks, canal tours, museum trips, lunches, parties and fund raising events. Activities are communicated through a monthly newsletter and this website. We are a friendly and welcoming bunch of women!

     Who ARE these people???  Are they part of the 3% wealthy, upper class elite in the world or simply a group of housewives getting together for morning coffee?  Do I have ANY right whatsoever to question (some may say even "judge" their status) where ANY of the monies come from that support the NMSS or MS research?  Should I even CARE who's donating what to where as long as the coffers remain full for what I want and need?  Is it wrong of me to turn my nose up at MS charity events where the MEGA PHARMACEUTICAL companies are the primary sponsors, putting on elaborate table spreads and handing out cheap marketing gimmicks?  Is it any different when wealthy families (and God only knows where they've made their millions) leave major bucks to MS charities after a loved one with MS dies?  Is my measly, yearly charitable donation to the local MS Chapter any more pure than the thousands given by Big Daddy Warbucks?  

     These are just the things I think about on a quiet, Saturday morning...