LRT English is partnering up with Lithuanian Dream to bring you a weekly English-language podcast. In this instalment, we speak about philanthropy with Kotryna Stankutė.
Stankutė works for the Marius Jakulis Jason foundation which offers grants to aspiring entrepreneurs, academics, and scientists.
Philanthropy, Stankutė says, is seen as something that rich people do. But while the US tops the World Giving Index – a ranking of some 140 countries by people's charitability and volunteering – in the second place is Myanmar.
Lithuanians, too, are quite giving people, Stankutė believes.
“People who don't have a lot of money, they still call all those TV [fundraising] marathons for kids, for Ukraine, for Belarus, they give small amounts of money for organisations that take care of kids, sick people or vulnerable groups,” she says.
One of the reasons people engage in philanthropy is that it gives them satisfaction, according to Stankutė.
For example, Marius Jakulis Jason, an American-Lithuanian lawyer and investor, initially planned to give part of his wealth to charity after his death. “But his wife said, let's do it now, it's fun,” Stankutė says.
“And it is a very important point that philanthropists around the world enjoy philanthropy and give much more money if they get involved into the process. [...] Not just pass millions to random organisations or charities, but also kind of join them.”
Listen to the full episode of Lithuanian Dream Podcast below:
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