A tireless giver to the world's desperate and needy, Marc Gold has become a St. Nicholas for the new millennium

by Michael McCarthy

If Santa Claus is an old man with a long white beard who gives away gifts at Christmas, then Marc Gold must be one of his merry elves.

Or Santa's helper, for few people personify the spirit of giving more than Gold, to whom every day seems to be Christmas. News about his work is spreading via word of mouth; the world may be a mess, but meeting Gold presents opportunities to change all that.

"Marc is the happiest person I have ever met," says Marcy Joseph, sitting in her living room in a beautiful home high on a hill above San Anselmo, where she is holding a fund-raiser for Gold's projects. "He has so much to share with the world. What Marc does, anybody could do. All you need to do is copy his methods."

What Gold does is change the world for the better, one person at a time, through his one-man, nonprofit project, 100 Friends. Maybe a better name would be 1 Million Friends, because it seems that's how many people have already been affected by his work. Gold's philosophy is simple: All of life is a journey, so why not make every step of it count?

On his travels throughout the world, Gold gives and lends money to the poorest of the poor, those who fall through the cracks of society's safety nets. He tells his friends in America where he is going next, asks them who they would like him to help, takes their donation (often as little as $10) and invests it where it will do the most good. Street kids, village peasants, women jailed for poverty, sidewalk beggars—no project seems too small for Gold.

He's been building this "micro-philanthropy" venture for almost 20 years, quietly and without any fanfare. But recently, Gold decided to change course. He has been appearing on national radio and college campuses to share information about what he does, and how he does it. His fund-raising and publicity methods are based on the MoveOn.org model, where small groups of people get together to take action on a common cause.

"We were in Laos last year, touring in a small village," says Peter Joseph, a physician who recently heard of Gold's work, "and we met a girl who was terribly ill. It was apparent to me that she would die if she didn't get emergency care. We arranged for her to be flown to a hospital, but she died there because the staff said the operation 'was too expensive.' We could easily have paid for it, but they didn't think to ask us. A few dollars would have saved her life."

On the way home from the San Francisco airport, the Josephs heard Gold being interviewed on the radio. The synchronicity caused the Josephs to immediately contact Gold and ask how they could help. His one-man crusade to represent America to the world in a better light is something they'd like to see replicated.

"I think what Marc is doing is really 'citizen diplomacy.' The United States has developed such a bad international reputation," says Peter, "and it's a disgrace. I think it's also very dangerous for national security. It's also stupid. I have no influence over our foreign affairs, but imagine what could happen if we all did something like Marc does."

• • • •

INDEED, FOUR OUT of five Americans think the world is becoming increasingly dangerous for the United States and our foreign policy offers no solutions, according to a poll conducted by Public Agenda, a nonpartisan policy research organization based in New York. The survey queried 1,001 people in September; 79 percent said the world is becoming increasingly dangerous in attitude and action toward the U.S.; 69 percent said the government is doing a "poor job" helping to create a more peaceful and prosperous world. A poll of 16,500 people in 15 countries (conducted earlier this year by the Pew Research Center) found a steady decline in public approval of the United States, as low as 12 percent in some countries.

In his book Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics, Harvard historian Joseph Nye writes that America's declining image has created a global power vacuum, which demagogues like Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have exploited for their own political benefit. In Nye's words, "The U.S. cannot achieve what it wants by acting alone."

Business for Diplomatic Action (BDA) launched a program in May to change America's image overseas, putting its World Citizens Guide online (www.businessfordiplomaticaction.org) as well as distributing a consciousness-raising, 60-page, passport-sized booklet to more than 300 colleges and 20,000 business people in 800 companies. Even the Marines are using the booklets, and the federal government is considering including the guide with every new U.S. passport application.

BDA's executive director Cari Eggspuehler emphasizes that the world's view of the U.S. has changed dramatically because of our current foreign policy. "Historically, people would separate the American government and the American people. But that distinction is being blurred. Typically, our people were admired for our way of life. It was a lifestyle that many aspired to, and that's not the case any more."

In man-on-the-street interviews conducted in more than 100 countries after 9/11, advertising conglomerate DDB Worldwide found respondents repeatedly mentioned "arrogant, loud and uninterested in the world" when asked their perceptions of Americans, BDA's Eggspuehler says. "But the most consistent word in every region was 'respect.' They said we don't respect their cultures."

• • • •

IN FRONT OF an attentive crowd of 35 people jammed into the Josephs' living room, Gold is showing a video of his recent trip to the city dump of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, admittedly not your typical tourist destination. Gold has a speaking style that features humor. Like a short stand-up comedian (he's barely over 5 feet), Gold likes to keep his audience laughing; humor also helps deal with his subject matter.

"It was 1956 and there I was, just 7 years old," says Gold. "My father had been ill from a heart attack and he was trying to teach me things, serious stuff you might not talk about to a young boy. 'Marc, I want to talk to you about the meaning of life.' 'But dad, I'm only 7 years old.' "

That brings a chuckle from the audience, but Gold is just warming up.

"He told me to go into the bathroom. I said: 'The meaning of life is in the bathroom?' " More laughs. "He told me to stand on the toilet seat and then turn around.

'Son, what do you see?'

'A mirror? Um, oh yeah, and I see myself.'

'OK, how old will you be in 70 years?'

'Um, 77 years old.'

'OK, your life will be almost over. Look in the mirror then and ask yourself a simple question. In your life, because of how you lived, did you make the world any better or not? If the answer is yes, I'll be proud of you. If the answer is no, I'm disappointed.' "

Gold's parents demonstrated the importance of altruism by doing volunteer work and helping others in numerous ways. His father, a photographer, often donated his pictures for needy causes and would spend time with seniors at the local retirement home. His mother volunteered at the local hospital and other sites.

Gold became a public school teacher in Harlem and in 1977 was voted teacher of the year in Manhattan. He developed the first AIDS counseling and testing program in California in 1984-85, shortly after the first HIV test was approved. For the past 14 years he has taught courses on health counseling, psychology, AIDS and life counseling at Bay Area community-colleges. He is a member of Doctors Without Borders and Human Rights Watch.

It was on a summer vacation in 1989 in Tibet that he was first asked to donate a small amount money to a woman in incredible pain from an easily cured ear disease. It cost him just $1 for an antibiotic. He started spending more of his summer vacations in poor countries, giving out small amounts of money. Over the years he has studied many ways and methods of giving. Last year he taught only one semester so he could spend more time helping many of the hundreds of community, grassroots projects around the world with which he has developed close relationships. Now 57, Gold plans to devote all his energies to expanding 100 Friends work.

"Why do I do this?" asks Gold rhetorically. "It's really simple. This work brings meaning to my life. I know it benefits those I have reached, too. If I can die knowing I have been able to help some needy fellow human beings, that's enough for me."

Gold has traveled to more than 40 countries, including war zones, regions devastated by the 2004 tsunami in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, the 2006 earthquake in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and AIDS projects in Africa. His main interests are helping the weakest members of society, which usually means women and children. Often he loans money via the "pay it forward" principal, lending small amounts of money at no interest to budding entrepreneurs, perhaps to buy some chickens that lay eggs or tools to build a fishing boat. He asks that some of the profits be lent to friends of the recipient for similar projects. This is similar to the work done by Dr. Muhammad Yunnas, this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner.

"My first time in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2003, I met a woman at the Afghan Women's Educational Center. These are women who were put in prison for running away from home because their husbands were beating them," says Gold, "or because their dowry wasn't big enough. AWEC was going to start a program for the women in prison—we're talking about buying clothing, medical care, even helping the prison guards who were also incredibly poor. I donated about $400 to help the school, for teachers' salaries, blankets, supplies and things like that. It made a big difference.

"Then there was a family I met in a slum in New Delhi The father had died, leaving behind a widow who was unemployed, with six children living in a very small shack, boys and girls ranging from 2 years old to 14 years. The family was doing very poorly. Some of the older kids were picking up whatever work they could: bringing tea, running errands, shining shoes, cleaning toilets, usually less than a dollar a day."

Gold interviewed the mother and discovered she was quite skilled at making clothing if she only had the tools. He spent $43 to purchase a sewing machine, needle and thread, cloth, scissors and tape measure so she could make and sell clothes, thus improving the family's ability to survive. This all started because he had a good contact in New Delhi who took him to the ghetto. Whenever possible, he returns to see how the recipients are making out; in this case the family was doing much better.

"Obviously you can't help everyone because you're dealing with huge numbers of people, and you may only have a limited amount of money," he says. "The first person you see begging on the street with no legs, sure you could give them some money. But the money donated might go to the street Mafia that sent them out to beg on the street in the first place. What I do is usually not 'a random act of kindness.' There's a lot of thought involved.

"Something that I strongly recommend to people," he says, "is give without any strings attached, without an imperial attitude, without arrogance. Think about how if you were a poor person in some Third-World country, and someone from America was going to help you, how would you want it to be offered?"

• • • •

ON THE TABLE in the kitchen at the Josephs' house is a small glass jar with some $2,300 in checks. The Josephs, too, have written a check to 100 Friends for $3,000. When they next go on a trip, they will try to practice what Gold preaches, although Marcy admits it's not as easy as it sounds.

"It takes a lot of courage to do what Marc does," she admits. "Everybody can help in their own way, though. You don't have to follow in his footsteps; you can donate some money and tell him what you want it used for. Anybody can do that. You could also hold a party like this one."

Several of the people in attendance say they will do so. Leslie Anderson from Petaluma has already planned a house party where she will show a video of Gold's work in the Cambodian town dump where he has helped more than 100 children (who were living right in the toxic waste site) move into an orphanage and go to school.

"I met Marc many years ago and really admired him, but I am amazed at what he has accomplished since then. He truly has a vision that anybody can follow," says Anderson. "With the 100 Friends model, you don't need to build a giant organization or try to overthrow the government or stuff like that. It's so simple."

In 2006, in between teaching classes and parenting two boys and acting as father figure to many troubled youth he counsels, Gold raised almost $80,000 that he invested in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia. He expanded his huge network of community contacts around the world and built a Web site with hundreds of stories and photos. All this as a homeless person; last year the longtime Marin resident sold all his belongings. When Gold is home here in the Bay Area he sleeps on his sister's couch.

While he loves his work and always appreciates donations toward alleviating abject poverty around the world, Gold's latest direction may bring him more happiness than all his other jobs combined. He wants to share what he has learned with others and is in the process of writing a guide showing others how to do it. A short list is already on the Web site. Supporters have launched about a dozen of their own versions of 100 Friends in the U.S., Canada and Australia. Gold hopes to raise and then donate a million dollars in his lifetime and has already donated 20 percent of that total. In 2007 he plans to build a school in Afghanistan.

"I love what I do," says Gold. "I have some big plans for the future too; for starters, my next goal is to become a 'hundredaire,' " he laughs. "Hey, if the world is going down the toilet, I just want to slow down the flush action."

• • • •

Q&A with Marc Gold

Are you playing God, parachuting in like the big American Santa Claus with all the money and power? Throwing money at problems is not the answer.

That's what I call the colonial or power-based model. My way is called the partnership model. It calls for learning from the local population about what they need, consulting with them and acting with humility and grace. Money alone is not the answer, but at the same time it provides a tremendous amount of practical, sometimes life-saving, assistance.

Handing out cash turns people into beggars. Local people end up seeing tourists as walking moneybags. Instead, help people to finds ways to help themselves.

This is true. Over time I have tended to use more of the donations to buy fishing boats, sewing machines, handcarts, small businesses and so forth. But if you are hungry today, you would really like to eat and then worry about planting seeds tomorrow.

Volunteering your time and attention is more important than donating money.

Both are important. I am in the process of doing more hands-on work. But for some things there is no substitute for money.

Why are you helping those people in other countries when there is so much help needed here at home?

Give help where you are drawn. I try to help wherever I find myself. I definitely also provide aid when I am in the USA. But if you study the conditions in the Third World, you will see beyond a shadow of a doubt that the level of poverty and need is much, much greater than in the poorest section of large American or European cities. No contest.

Are you doing this to feel good about yourself?

That is partially true. Is this a problem? If someone is cold and you donate a warm blanket, do they really care about your motivation, unless you try to manipulate them to believe in your religion? Helping others makes me feel like my life is meaningful. No apologies. I gain a sense of accomplishment that makes me feel that life is worth living.

Do you think what you are doing actually makes this a better world?

I started off just traveling as a tourist, but when I saw the circumstances of poverty and need, I wanted to do something. I couldn't just ignore what I saw. Money has such a huge impact in the Third World; you can do a lot of good with it. You just have to think through how the money could be best put to use. There are social issues, financial and cultural questions. So you do your homework, you interview a lot of people, you go and visit hospitals, you get educated. It's all an incredible process.

For more information, log on to www.100friends.org.