One person, making a difference

There’s a lot of problems in the world today, problems that seem insurmountable. Sometimes I think about people being hungry or thirsty or homeless, landfills overflowing with discarded stuff that we thought we needed/wanted (including food), animals being euthanized or abused, children being abused, and I think, our world is a MESS. And I look at the little things I do — recycling, donating to food pantries and other charities — and I feel like it’s meaningless, a drop in the ocean. How can one person do anything to really make a difference?

Well, this holiday season, I saw one person inspire others to make a HUGE difference. Actress Alyssa Milano set up a campaign on Charity: Water and asked all her Twitter followers to each give $1. That’s all, just $1 — less than the cost of a cup of coffee, an amount most people wouldn’t miss for a second and wouldn’t hesitate to spend on themselves.

At the time I’m writing this post, she has raised over $77,000. That money will provide 15 wells to villages, give clean water to 3,750 people, and provide for them for 20 years. It’s absolutely amazing what an impact her campaign has made.

And I know you’re thinking, “I’m not a celebrity — I can’t make that kind of difference.” But she didn’t do it alone. She did it by inspiring others to each make a small difference — to believe that their drop in the ocean would be part of a greater good.

I want to encourage you all to find a charity you care about and give something, even if it’s just $1. If we pull together, we can do amazing, incredible things.

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If you’d like some other charities to consider, Cake Wrecks has been doing a similar donation drive, selecting one charity a day and encouraging all readers to give $1. Their campaign summary page is at http://info.cakewrecks.com/charities.html and their charities include Heifer International, Doctors Without Borders, Share Our Strength, Puffy Paws Kitty Haven, Love146, and other worthy causes.