When Jerry Conover got his first Social Security check six years ago, he did not know what to make of it. He had earned a good income as a lawyer, and was still working part time in Denver as an arbitrator and mediator in legal disputes. 

"I said, 'This is wonderful, but I don't need it,' " said Mr. Conover, 71, whose annual Social Security checks amounted to $18,000. "I put it in a metaphoric lockbox to give to my kids or grandkids."

Then, he started talking with friends who were in a similar position - receiving government checks at the end of lucrative careers - and they came up with a plan: give away the Social Security checks.

In 2003, they formed a nonprofit organization called Hope for Generations to use their Social Security checks, and those of others like them, to benefit low-income children.

"I was really taken with studies that showed that the subsidies for people over 65 are much more than for kids," Mr. Conover said. "I felt that if we pooled our funds, we could do some payback for the community."

The organization raised $60,000 in its first year and $100,000 in 2004. 
Mr. Conover and his friends belong to a small but significant class of Social Security recipients. Most of the 33 million people who get Social Security old-age insurance benefits depend on the government paychecks for more than half of their income, and about 13 million would fall below the poverty line without them. 

But for about one in 10 retirees, Social Security accounts for 20 percent or less of their income. 

"A lot of us see this as an issue of fairness in the allocation of resources," Mr. Conover said. "We have a number of affluent people getting Social Security, and it could be argued that after you get your investment back, that's a windfall. That's the pitch I make." 

The foundation has about 30 donors. Some give their full Social Security benefits, others as little as $50 a month. Mr. Conover has donated a different percentage of his benefits each year; his wife also gives part of her benefits. 

Already the program has inspired others. Last month, the Merage Foundations, a charitable organization in Newport Beach, Calif., announced Children First, a program to get retirees to donate their Social Security benefits - or their time - to children. 

"We want to reverse the media hype that says aging people are a burden on the system," said Marshall Kaplan, executive director of the Merage Foundations, who heard about Mr. Conover's program when he was living in Denver. 

"How do you make retirees, who are considered as unmitigated liabilities who are going to break the Social Security fund - how do you turn that around and say, 'This group is a growing resource,' and convert that to an asset instead of a liability?"

Douglas Morton, a publisher in Denver who turned 65 last year, was one of the people with whom Mr. Conover's pitch struck a chord. Mr. Morton, who continues to work, said he did not need his Social Security benefits, which come to more than $22,000 a year, and did not want to return them to the government in taxes. He thought of donating them to his alma mater. 

"We have friends who give everything to their kids, and that's fine," Mr. Morton said. "But I don't think that's good for children. Look at what's-her-name Hilton. My saying is, 'It's not my function in life to make my kids rich.' "