For the past few weeks my heart has been heavy thinking about the people affected by the famine in Africa. I am frustrated that it doesn't seem to be getting the media attention I think it deserves and I am saddened that so many of us (myself included until recently) are so willing to just sit back and watch kids starve to death. That is not the person I want to be!
I think about how I would feel if it were my babies - Lily and Quinn - and how I just can't imagine the horror of watching my precious girls starve. And I know that every single person who reads this blog would move heaven and earth to save my children. So why not these children? I don't want to be one of those people on the sidelines anymore. 30,000 children have died from starvation in the last 90 days. How in the world are we, am I, letting this happen?
Thankfully, there is something we can do to help. The organization that I went to Africa with in 2005, World Help, is on the job and putting together containers of food and medical supplies to ship to help people affected by this catastrophe. We can help by donating money to ship those containers here. It is my own personal fundraising page within the World Help system. The president of World Help, Vernon Brewer, is an amazing man who I've met personally multiple times and is a great friend of my dad's. He recently visited a refugee camp and said this rivals any humanitarian crisis he's ever seen. Coming from a man who has traveled to just about every desperate place on earth, that really means something.
I know that any money donated to this group will be used wisely and will truly make an impact on this tragic situation. You can read more about what World Help is doing and you can donate here. You can also find out more by going to WorldHelp.net. Chris and I feel so strongly about the need to help in the only way we can, by giving money. We're donating the most money we've ever donated at one time, even at a time when our income is low and our expenses are high. But we know we are doing the right thing because the money we are donating will literally save lives. That is worth a few dinners at home rather than eating out ... at least we have food to eat. And I'd rather feed 160 people than spend $4 on a cup of coffee anyway.
Any amount will help - each dollar donated provides 40 meals to starving people! Each container of food costs $6000 to ship and contains 240,000 meals! Holy moly! I know that every single person who reads this blog can afford to donate at least a dollar. You can also donate $10 just by texting "WORLDHELP" to 85944. That text alone would provide 400 meals! I can guarantee that that simple text will be the most meaningful thing you will do today.
I try to keep this blog happy and joyful because our lives truly are happy and joyful. And I know this is a sad post. But it doesn't have to be sad if we take action. If we take action, we can make a difference to that child who gets his first real meal in weeks. We can save a mother from the horror of watching her child die. We can help. So please, from the bottom of my heart, please help by donating here. Thank you so much for hearing my heart and for caring about these precious lives!
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