5/10/17 Chatterbox
Betty Kaiser
A newborn baby is a mother’s most precious gift. The moment
that baby is put in your arms you are flooded with an inexpressible, eternal
love. Nothing will ever be more important than the child you are holding. You
will love, cherish and protect that child forever. But sometimes life
intervenes to make life hard for little ones and they need more than our love
to save them
The faces of mothers and their children facing
starvation in Somalia broke my heart as I witnessed their struggle to
live on a television show in early May. ABC News anchor David Muir and Caroline Miles, CEO, of Save the Children,
introduced viewers to Somalia a land of 20 million people all on the brink of
famine and starvation including the children. I was one of those viewers.
As the cameras scanned the landscape, the reality of years
without rain was revealed in pictures of parched earth, animal carcasses and
bone-thin adults. Desperate villagers line up every morning for food and water.
Trucks dispensed water through hoses at $4 a gallon. Each family hoped to get
two buckets full. Enough to last two days.
The faces of emaciated children brought me to tears. The
hollow-eyed babies with tiny frames had no flesh on their bones. They were limp
and didn’t even cry during the final stages of malnutrition. Their loving mothers were stoic as their
babies suffer with diarrhea and pneumonia as their bodies shut down. Even the
doctors are helpless to save these precious little ones.
The situation is dire. Their lives are in God’s hands and those of us watching from far away have questions …how can we possibly help these children from such a
distance? How much money do we give to support the agencies that are serving
them? And how do we know the money will buy what is needed for the children and
their families?
I don’t have all the answers. But I do want to address the
money donation amount—no amount is too small. Here's an example: I have a dear friend who is on a limited income. He
regularly sends $5 a month to his favorite charities. It’s not much but he can
afford $5. It makes him feel good that he’s helping others and if a thousand
people do the same thing, the benefit to the charity would be $5,000! Think
about it. Give what you can afford.
I am always skeptical of organizations soliciting money. So
I checked out the rating for Save the Children at this website: www.charitynavigator.org. I have
used this reliable source for many years. You might want to bookmark it on your
computer. It gives you organization addresses, telephone numbers, how they
spend their money, an overall score and rating for the charity.
Save the Children’s rating was 3.1 stars (out of 4) with
89.6% going to program expenses and services. In the comments section there was
some chatter about salaries and other expenses. Too much money spent on overhead was the biggest complaint. My favorite comment about the
money being spent was most charitable: “I look at it this way. I'm doing what
every human should be doing and that's helping children.”
Of course, I don’t need to tell you there are a lot of scams out there.
Be careful before you impulsively give. If you are unsure of a charity, check
out such international agencies as the Red Cross and the Salvation Army. The
United Nations Children’s Fund is another option.
UNICEF was created in 1946 to provide emergency food and
health care to children after WWII. It
claims to have helped save more children’s lives than any other humanitarian
organization. They internationally provide health care, clean water, nutrition,
education and emergency relief. https://www.unicefusa.org/mission
One of my favorite charities—Heifer International—has a
different approach. Founded in 1944, its mission is to empower and feed the
poor. They donate livestock to families who raise them and breed them both for eating and to raise money i.e. children
can drink the milk and eat the eggs. Then, as the flock or herd grows, the family can sell the excess with one caveat: they
must pass on one female (goat, heifer, chicken or whatever) to another
family. Sharing the bounty is a win-win situation. This amazing program has
a 3 star rating. https://www.heifer.org/gift-catalog/index.html
P.S. ABC viewers donated $800,000
to Save the Children within 24 hours of the TV show. Because of them, thousands of lives will be saved. I'm thinking that such donations to one of my favorite children's charities on Mother's Day is a good idea!
Betty Kaiser’s
Chatterbox is about people, places, family, and other matters of the heart.
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