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Opinion: Connecticut Post
Article Last Updated: 12/01/2005 07:43 AM

Our miserly region must donate more

As New Englanders, Connecticut residents have plenty to brag about.

Our region is steeped in history and tradition. It boasts a terrific and picturesque coastline and is one of the wealthiest regions in the country.

But there's at least one thing all of us in New England should be embarrassed of: despite being in the upper percentile for average gross income in the country, the six states in New England are some of the most miserly in the nation when it comes to donating to charities.

According to a recent study by the Catalogue of Philanthropy, New England is the most tight-fisted region in the country. New Hampshire was ranked as the least generous state in the nation — for the fourth year in a row — followed directly by Massachusetts. Rhode Island and Connecticut both joined their two fellow New England states as the six least generous states.

Mississippi, one of the poorest states in America, was ranked first.

It's important to note that the yearly Generosity Index is ranked by the Catalogue of Philanthropy and is adjusted for average gross incomes and uses the value of itemized charitable donations reported to Internal Revenue Service tax returns. That means that the study takes into account both having and giving.

It's not the first time Connecticut and its fellow New England states have placed poorly in the yearly study, either. New England has been ranked as the most penny-pinching region for the past several years. Last year, Connecticut was 44th on the Generosity Index, and was 37th the year before that.

It's no coincidence the study on charitable donations is released like clockwork in the weeks before Thanksgiving and the holiday season. Of course charitable donations should be a year-round habit, but giving to those who are less fortunate seems to take an even greater importance during the holidays.

Especially during a year where the world felt the effects of a devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean and a crippling hurricane in New Orleans, it is pitiful that a wealthy state like Connecticut couldn't share its wealth with those less fortunate.

Now is the perfect time of year for all of us to give whatever amount we can to those who are less fortunate than we are. Maybe then Connecticut can avoid the embarrassment of being dubbed one of the cheapest states in the nation yet again come this time next year.