ellay wrote:Katie was genuinely pissed that they had to pay so much and I'm pretty sure she regretted saying that they'll match the money. She tried to laugh it off but you could obviously see that she was annoyed people bought so many shirts. I can't even be mad at her because I'd rather buy something fancy than give $7000 to charity.
But only $3,500 actually came out of their pocket. The other $3,500 was profit from the t-shirts that they sold for the American Cancer Society. They transferred that to their bank account so they could write the check for $7,000 and get a tax write off for the full amount and consequently have it apply towards the fundraising contest for the trip, rather than directly transferring the funds from the t-shirt website to the American Cancer society. I don't see that $3,500 in t-shirt sales coming out of their pocket (except for the match), because they advertised the fact that the proceeds would go to charity and they would match it so that motivated people to buy the shirts. They could never make that kind of money off of a regular Katie and Cullen t-shirt campaign.
I think a match is incredibly generous, but Katie's reaction in particular was just so surprising and distasteful. I understand that's a lot of money, but they did get a tax write-off and a trip to Costa Rica for that $3,500 out of pocket donation. And Katie has had such a privileged upbringing I thought she would be more enthusiastic to give back. I guarantee her parents supported her financially through undergrad, her PhD program, and probably helped them with the down payment on their current house. I'm sure they're looking at beautiful homes to buy right now with the money they're able to make staying at home with their kids every day. I would just expect a little more perspective and enthusiasm that they were able to use their platform to raise $6,500 from viewers and make a $3,500 contribution of their own.
