A Moment Of Compassion

I can’t, in good conscience, pretend I don’t see what I’m sure the entire world is witnessing right now. I can’t, in good conscience, pretend the video footage, the live satellite feeds, the interviews, the pleas for help, the suffering, the bleeding, THE BABIES lying dead in the street… aren’t affecting me.

Babies. Just… the babies.

Catastrophic things happen all the time. It is the nature of the world and the casualties of life. But when catastrophic things happen to already devastated places, and you realize you’re much more fortunate and blessed than you may have first assumed… perspective is the word I’m looking for. And, along with compassion, I think we’ve all received a dose of perspective in large amounts these past few days.

This blog/website/what-have-you does not generate a lot of readers. At least not to my knowledge. If the few of you who drop by would like to extend a moment of compassion to those suffering in Haiti, let me direct you to a few places I’ve seen willing to help in the blog community:

Me. In the sidebar, you’ll see a widget linking to Yele Haiti, an organization founded by singer/rapper/activist/Haitian-American Wyclef Jean of Fugee music fame. He has been one of the leading champions of Haiti since he received any type of notoriety, long before any earthquake. The widget will take you directly to the donation page, but don’t stop there. There are tons of places on the site explaining who they are and what they do. Take a look around. More importantly – DONATE!.

The Pioneer Woman – Creator Ree Drummond is donating $.10 for every response she receives to this post, and “two (2) $500 donations to the Haitian-related charity of the winners’ choice”. If you’ve ever visited her site, you know she receives record responses to her give-a-ways (she’s already up to 24,235 with this one), and to her site in general.

This Is Reverb – Creator Pastor Ryan Detzel often volunteers his services (ministering AND actual manual labor) to places like Honduras and, in the next coming days or weeks, Kenya. He has links to Compassion International’s disaster relief program, as well as a heartfelt word (and I mean “word” with a capital W, so we’re talking God, people; don’t be scurred).

That’s Church – Creator Virginia Montanez has been giving up-to-the-minute updates from Haiti, reported to her by a friend who not only is suffering, but has children from the area she is working to bring to the U.S. She, too, has links to various organizations including Center Of Life.

Blogography – Creator David Simmer has links to Doctors Without Borders in Haiti.

There are also the usual suspects: American Red Cross, and hosts of others. A quick Google search will get you someplace in no time. A quick warning: While there isn’t a shortage of people willing to help, there are unimaginable swarms of pig snot creating fake organizations to steal your money. DO YOUR RESEARCH before you give.

The outreach pouring from these places is astonishing, and it makes me love the fact that I became involved in blogging just a little bit more. Even if I’m only a speck in the millions, I hope this speck helps the helpless right about now.