For the young and rich, a retreat to learn charity

It happened just like a dream.

Karen Pittelman discovered that she was the recipient of a $3 million trust fund when she became a senior at Brown University.

Now, Pittelman is working for an organization called Resource Generation, reaching out to other wealthy young people - including Penn students - to help them figure out exactly what to do with newfound millions.

Pittelman ended up relinquishing all but $15,000 of her money at the age of 25 - not on yachts or cars or expensive clothes, but on creating the Chahara Foundation, a group dedicated to helping women and girls perform grassroots activism.

Now in its ninth year, Resource Generation has worked with over 900 people between the ages of 18 and 35. The organization is intended to help "anyone who might have more resources than they need," and there is no wealth requirement, Schweser said.

According to the organization's Web site, "Another way to define 'wealthy' is those U.S. residents who have or come from families that have over $158,600 in annual household income - putting them in the wealthiest 5 percent of people in the country."

Associate Director of Career Services Peggy Curchack believes that "a significant number of Penn students, both from the U.S. and internationally," fall or will fall into this wealth bracket. Career Services encourages students to attend the organization's conferences.

These students are "absolutely in positions to think about what they want to do with that wealth," Curchack said.

At least some of those wealthy students want to use it philanthropically.

"I believe there is a role for people with wealth to level the playing field. There are so many young people with wealth who have progressive values, and they have access to all the resources that the social-justice world needs," Pittelman said.

That's why Pittelman became involved with the New York-based Resource Generation.

"We want to help young people clarify their own feelings about the money they have access to and find the most efficient way to use their resources," said Jamie Schweser, the group's donor-education coordinator.

Curchack, who has been involved in various projects for social change, said her personal interest in philanthropy was what motivated her to send out an e-mail to the Class of 2007 about Resource Generation.

First-year Law student Amy Cahn has been involved with Resource Generation for about five years. She attended her first "Making Money Make Change" conference, an event co-sponsored by Resource Generation in 2001. Since then, Cahn has been involved with three different conferences, serving as a small group leader and on the workshop committee.

This year's conference will be held in next weekend in Connecticut, from Nov. 9 to 12.

And, as one might have guessed, it costs more than a few dollars to attend: The registration fees start at $685 for first-timers and $985 for returning participants.

Despite the costs to attend such events, "it's really important" that an organization like this exists, Cahn said. "There is a value and a need to think in terms of equality and justice."

While being wealthy and young at the same time might seem like the ideal situation, it can come with of challenges - especially when one is determined to contribute one's money toward social activism.

"These young people have to deal with a lot of issues in terms of who has control over the money and what kinds of strings are attached to the money," Schweser said. "But the biggest issues for young people with wealth are feelings of isolation from family, colleagues and other folks with wealth."

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