Why Saving the Hollywood Sign isn’t So Great

Of all the people to surface on reality TV shows, Hugh Hefner might be the coolest to watch. Having access to what equates to an American living legend usually doesn’t happen like this. I’ve watched episodes of The Girls Next Door and despite my preconceptions, have a hard time hating Hefner.

I especially love when we see/learn about his younger years, and how into monster movies he is (even starring in a Frankenstein movie).

But I wasn’t so thrilled to hear that to help save the “Hollywood” sign, he has donated over $900,000.

I understand that it’s a symbol of a lot, and very Americana, yadda, yadda – I get it. But is it very important to save real estate and give money to that, rather than support charities? I’m sure the Humane Society of the United States, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Invisible Children, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the Environmental Defense Fund, the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Hope for Haiti, Bread for the World…and a whole slew of other charities would love to benefit from such a generous donations.

Of course, Hefner wasn’t the only one who helped donate. He was actually the final person to donate, as time was running out. Which I really respect. But still, why is everyone in a rush to save a sign?

While I believe that saving the “Hollywood” sign might also be helping wildlife of Cahuenga Park, I still think that donating money to another cause could have been more beneficial. It would be incredibly sad to see the sign go, but I’d rather know there was that much money going to a cause to fund cancer research.