make a difference

...can you make a difference?

You can
- be a voice for the children around the world
- be a voice for animals who are abused
- stand up for discrimination and inequality
- help make poverty history
- work to save the environment from future destruction
- foster animals and children so they have better futures
- donate money to charities you believe in
- walk/run/volunteer/fundraise for charities you support
- help your family
- help your neighbors
- sponsor a child
- purchase only charity cards/gifts for any occasion
- walk your talk
- reuse, reduce, recycle, compost etc… live green
- be active in campaigns that generate the public and politics’ awareness. Eg. oxfam activists, wecansolveit.com or whomever you choose
- give to a wishing tree at Christmas or better yet, donate food to those that have none
- read to sick kids in hospital
- donate your time to the elderly so they can have entertainment or someone to talk to
- Write to members of the government to change laws, get them aware of what is going on, make a point
- Host awareness nights for free trade, international day of peace, etc.
... and boy could I keep going.

All the above, I have done.
All the above, I will keep doing.

This does make a difference but you know what I have found from experience? At the time it doesn’t feel like it because each time you do something it seems so small and insignificant compared to the larger problem. To me, this goal “Make a Difference” is very generic.

We should be looking at goals that are specific.

Anyone can “make a difference” for a minute, a day, a week… and yes that is better than nothing!! However can you donate a well for a community in Africa? Do you know how? How well do you research what you do? How involved are you in this “making a difference” business?

This is why I’m saying I’m done with this goal. I want to be more specific. More dedicated. Not just sugar coat a kind gesture or spread warm fuzzies.

I am here to make a difference. I have done so, but it’s a drop of water in a drought compared to what needs to be done in this world.

May we all “make a difference!” And may it be enough.

XOX

We started in August past to collect food in each weekly shopping. I bought things that we would eat, not just cheap rubbish, after all, if we were ever in the situation that relied upon others giving us food I would hope people would give us food we liked too. Each shop I bought in a savvy way… what was on special was my friend, but it also had to be non perishable. Fruit & Veggies in tins, peanut butter, things that were nutritious and were staples in a diet, such as whole grain crackers, brown rice etc. By the time December rolled around we had 20 huge boxes of food ready to go.

It took two trips in a very stacked up car to deliver but it was worth it. When our food arrived, the charity had just received a phone call for emergency hampers that day. Six families had to be fed that night. By the time the second car load arrived, the first had been unpacked, repacked into huge hampers (originally they were small) and some even dispatched. Our food wasn’t even going to make it until Christmas. These people were in dire need of food.

Ultimately, we fed probably 12 families of approximately six people per family, but that would only last one week in my opinion. While I should feel good that they had decent food and good nutrition, I just felt sad. How can we spend millions on wars, fireworks, and political campaigns while people go hungry?

These aren’t even those whom are displaced refugees or living in countries of extreme poverty. They are right here, amongst us, and yet they need you and I to give them food. How disgraceful of our government to let this poverty get this bad.

So many also have this notion that the homeless are there because they are either drug addicts or alcoholics. Well, there are those who are released from institutions because they are too full to keep them there, but these people don’t know how to look after themselves so they end up on the streets. There are others who lose their jobs, can’t pay their bills, lose their house and end up on the streets… entire families end up on the streets. It’s not always because they are alcoholics. In fact I am yet to see one homeless person with a brown paper bag. Mostly they are just looking for a few coins and a place to get warm. Anyhow, I’ve digressed. The people the food was for weren’t even homeless, yet just as desperate for food.

I truly wanted to be happy about what we had achieved. The charity were overwhelmed with the amount of food we had collected, but in reality, it was too little for the mouths they had to feed. I was just so sad knowing that we fed so few and that the people we have helped will just be in the same situation within a week.

We did our best, as did others, and I know this has to be good enough, but really, it isn’t. I give and give yet people are going hungry while I can type on a laptop computer. It just seems so wrong to me. With all the billions of dollars in the world, why is there even such a thing as a “third world country” or “poverty?”

If you’re running late, buy charity Christmas/Greetings cards. I got all mine from UNICEF a while ago, but you can get them from just about any foundation you care to support, even hospitals. Pick your favorite charity and buy your cards from them.

This Season make a difference!

The Animal Rescue Site promotes awareness and prevents rescued animal deaths every day through easy and quick online activities. (They have the BEST e-cards – adorable!)

Please remember to click every day to give help and hope to those most in need. Every click counts in the life of a rescued animal.

It’s so easy.
Just click!

Still on the road to eradicating poverty… I added another micro-loan to a lady on Kiva.org yesterday. It’s such a brilliant idea and you are helping make such a difference to a family who doesn’t have it anywhere near as good as you.

Also bought all our Christmas cards from charities that we support. Some are even the Gifts that Give type cards that you can get via Oxfam and other places that allow you to give something meaningful like a goat or blankets, even clean drinking water instead of a physical “stuff” type gift.

It may be only September but in each grocery shop we buy extra long lasting things such as tinned fruits and vegetables for the hampers to families for Christmas. We did this last year and it was really satisfying. However the charity told us that they still were short food as most people gave gifts not food. Understandably kids need gifts, but people need to eat! This year we are going to rely on other people to give the gifts and we’re going to focus on supplying the food. I figure that if we can buy a extra each week from now on, when they collect it in December we should have a good amount of food that hopefully will help families in need.