Charity

Anyone that has read my blogs for awhile will know that I promote/support charitable organizations. I had  recently posted a link on this site about a film documentary on Doctors Without Borders. It played on the 14th and I went to see it.

I wish I could urge you to see the film in your area, but I think that was the only day it was shown. It was a great show and the Doctors and Personel that volunteer for this organization are really incredible people.  I could tell you more about them and the movie but I would rather you see for yourself, so here is a You Tube link about Doctors without Borders/MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières. They are a based in France). http://www.youtube.com/msf

The day before I saw this film, I had my annual tree trimming party. I looked at my table when all the food was put out and had to admit, it was a lot of food. Seeing the documentary made apparent the contrast in others needs and my own.

Two years ago, a friend and I volunteered to work for Meals on Wheels Christmas day. It was really a memorable experience. Seeing the cars lined up to pick up and deliver food early on Christmas day was really touching. The volunteers were young and old, singles and whole families all there to help make a Christmas for those less fortunate.

I had volunteered many years earlier for this program and I will always remember delivering meals to an elderly couple in North Dallas. They were only a half a mile from the most affluent part of Dallas, but they had no heat, no electricity and were eating food out of cans. Hunger does exist in America and with the economic situation, it is more critical that we help our neighbors to survive.

There are many of our organizations focused on helping people in other countries. Of course, I dont want to minimize what they are doing, but sometimes I want to focus on our people, our country as there are people who need us here too.

In Dallas I volunteered for the North Texas Food Bank which partners with Share our Strength, a national organization. There are food banks all over the country that are in need of food this year. Here in Florida, I had heard on the news back in February that 40% of the children in West Palm Beach were on the free lunch program. A teacher I know that works in one of the low income schools told me for some of his students that meal is the only meal they will get all day.

So here are some programs you might want to help out:

Meals on Wheels:MOWAA Member programs throughout the country provide nutritious meals and other nutrition services to men and women who are elderly, homebound, disabled, frail, or at risk. These services significantly improve the quality of life and health of the individuals they serve and postpone early institutionalization.
 http://www.mowaa.org/Page.aspx?pid=480

Share our Strength: Share Our Strength® is a national organization that works hard to make sure no kid in America grows up hungry. http://strength.org/

America's Food Partnership: AFP has provided over 2 million servings of food to over 200 different organizations in 42 different States.
http://www.theafpdifference.org/about_us.htm

Feeding America, formerly Americas Second Harvest: Feeding America is the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity. For every $1 you donate, Feeding America helps provide 7 meals to men, women and children facing hunger in our country.
http://feedingamerica.org/