The U.S. Olympic Committee Wonders If You Can Spare Anything

When we think of charitable organizations that desperately need our support, we will confess that the United States Olympic Committee doesn't immediately come to mind, considering we think we remember seeing an ad for the official overnight shipping company of the U.S. Olympic Team. So we can't imagine giving them money as an actual needy cause.

Neither can blog Pacifist Viking, which fashioned a response to a fundraising letter the Olympic Committee sent.

I know that, as you've told me, my gift would "help train the U.S. Olympic Team to compete against government-backed giants like China, Germany and Russia." But I will rely on the scrappy determination of the underdog Americans against such "giants." I think they'll still have a chance, even though you've told me you estimate "double the number of gifts will be needed to give us a chance at victory in the 2008 Olympic Games compared to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens." Somehow, Some way, I hope the underfunded, underappreciated American athletes will still have a "chance at victory" without my donation.

It's just that with limited funds, my wife and I have to pick and choose which organizations to charitably support. It would be nice if I could give you money so that American athletes could win medals so that they could make their own money through sponsorship and endorsements. Unfortunately, we'll probably continue to give money to animal rights groups, wildlife protection groups, and homeless shelters. Hopefully the American athletes can still make it to Beijing, where they can earn the endorsements without my help.

Seriously, though, anything we can do to help out the U.S. basketball team, please, sign us up. Really.

Dear United States Olympic Committee [Pacifist Viking]