Giving

Henry Parsons Crowell contracted tuberculosis when a boy and could not go to school. His Father and brother died of tuberculosis, and he should have died of it too. He made a contract with God. If he were spared he would use his abilities to amass large sums of money for evangelism. For the next 50 years he dedicated 70% of his income to kingdom causes. He bought a bankrupt mill in Ravenna, Ohio in 1881. He believed that God endowed him with bold ideas and the success of the company he founded, Quaker Oats.

He was one of the wealthiest men of Chicago when he died in 1943. Crowell viewed all things as a stewardship from God, including influence. Over the years, one businessman after another would comment on how he came to know Christ personally because of the life of integrity lived by Henry Parsons Crowell. Henry Parsons Crowell was a man who gave with a purpose.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Parsons_Crowell

Today the Quaker Oats company that Henry Parsons Crowell started has been sold to Pepsi. The brand exists but the company is gone. But nearly a century after his death in 1943 his giving continues through the trust he established. The trust purpose statement reads:

Founded in 1927, The Crowell Trust is dedicated the teaching and active extension of the doctrines of Evangelical Christianity through approved grants to qualified organizations.

The trustees of The Crowell Trust remain committed to following the specific guidelines established by Mr. Crowell for our grant-making activities.

http://crowelltrust.org/

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

(2 Corinthians 9:7-8)