A Call For Help

I just read this article in yesterday's paper about a new organization called C-U at Home.  Earlier this year, the coordinator, Melany Jackson, and many volunteers surveyed Champaign County to find out what the population of the homeless was.  I found the answer pretty shocking - over 500.  Of those, about 100 are considered "most vulnerable.  The good news is that the survey showed most of these people had access to shelters, but 16 "street" people are in desperate need of finding a place to stay.

You can read the whole article "Call goes forth for help from community".  The director is looking for 16 churches to each "adopt" one of these desperate people.  I'll be talking to my pastor today about this - I hope he's not going to weary of my "ideas" :)

Website:  www.cuathome.us
Contact:  Melany Jackson 217-819-4569

A great idea

I just found this website from a link on facebook.  I love their headliner "Fast. Forward. The End of Poverty"

http://www.live58.org/

Make sure you view the video on that front page - lots of great statistics, one of the most significant was that since 1980, the number of people living in extreme poverty has gone from 52% to 26%.  Their whole focus is to go that final 26% and eradicate extreme poverty in this generation.  Sounds great to me!

There is a movie that they have produced and I have order the viewing kit.  As soon as I get it, I'm going to talk to my pastor about showing it at our church in early November.  More info to come soon! 

Good News, with a caveat

Just read this article "Global child deaths plunge by 12,000 a day" and I am thanking God that such progress has been made over the last decade or so. (Here comes the 'but') But, if you continue down through the article, some pretty startling facts pop up. The one that snagged at my heart was this:

"The news that the rate of child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa is declining twice as fast as it was a decade ago shows that we can make progress even in the poorest places," he said. "But we cannot for a moment forget the chilling fact of around 21,000 children dying every day from preventable causes," he added.

The "he" quoted above is Anthony Lake, executive director for UNICEF. 21,000 per DAY. Let's all hope and pray that that number goes down by a significant amount soon. Another decade is too long to wait.  Read the whole thing.

Matt Damon on Ellen today

I just happened to sit down on the couch for a minute this afternoon and tuned in to watch the Ellen DeGeneres Show.  Matt Damon was on promoting his new movie, but what I found really interesting is a charity he co-founded:  Water.org.  He went into how it got started and what they do - a donation of just $25 can give one person water for their lifetime.  There are about 1 billion people drinking water that's not clean.  That's billion with a B.  Some of the statistics they provide:

The health and economic impacts of today’s global water crisis are staggering.

• More than 3.5 million people die each year from water-related disease; 84 percent are children. Nearly all deaths, 98 percent, occur in the developing world.
• Lack of access to clean water and sanitation kills children at a rate equivalent of a jumbo jet crashing every four hours.
• Lack of sanitation is the world’s biggest cause of infection.
• Millions of women and children spend several hours each day collecting water from distant, often polluted sources. This is time not spent working at an income-generating job, caring for family members, or attending school.
• 443 million school days are lost each year due to water-related illness.

Apparently, you get a reusable water bottle when you make a contribution of $25 or more. Ellen gave one to everyone in her audience today. Cool.  I'm going to have to get one now :)

Famine in the Horn of Africa: How to help

Just saw on MSNBC that 29,000 children under the age of 5 have died over the last 3 months in Somalia. So incredibly sad. There's so little we can do, but here's an article on where to send money.
Famine in the Horn of Africa: How to help

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I think I am going to fast tomorrow in sort of a solidarity with these poor people - at the very least, I will offer up my almost inconsequential suffering for their enormous suffering. I just don't know what else to do.  We have got to get others aware and involved.  Many, many others. 

God, help those people in such great need and in such horrible suffering.  Please help us know what to do to help them.  Amen.

Famine declared in Somalia

Just saw this on MSNBC.com.  Things have progressively gotten worse in Somalia, and really, the whole of sub-Saharan Africa, during the last year.  I will be sending some money (and so will Kraft, as a matching gift) to OxFam America to help.  Of course, I realize my very small contribution of $100 may not amount to much in the grand scheme of things, but when we add all of our donations together we can obviously make a larger contribution.

I also went to the OxFam America site and read this article about their efforts.  $800 million dollars is what they are saying is still needed to provide immediate relief.  I am going to start an email letter campaign  begging for support to this cause.  I'll post the email as soon as it's done.  I'm going to try to send it to every person I know and to people I don't but may have the resources to provide a lot more in donations (Oprah, the Gates Foundation, Warren Buffet, what-his-name Mr. Facebook, etc.).  I figure this is one of the only ways I can actually attempt to make a difference - begging for money for these people. The other way is to pray and pray and pray.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

News from Southern Sudan

Earlier this year, the people of southern Sudan voted to secede from the north and became it's own sovereign nation.  Although many aid agencies feared violence, the vote was a peaceful process.  The new country will become the Republic of South Sudan on July 9, 2011.  Please pray for a peaceful transition and for all the people of North and South Sudan.

Catholic Relief Services is all over it: Sudan is Knocking. Will You Answer?

and see this short video.