I've purposefully not written about the earthquake/tsunami because, frankly, I didn't know what to say. But, yesterday I learned a friend of mine here at work has not heard from his best friends (who are Godparents to one of his children) who were vacationing in Thailand. It had been 3 days yesterday. And, we watched the Charles Gibson special last night and it finally hit me like a ton of bricks.
We got into work today and our president had sent an e-mail out with some inspirational words and links to charitable organizations. She and the co-founder will donate their entire profit share checks to these relief efforts, and will match every employee's donation $ for $. Colleen and I sprung into action, and to UNICEF we made a very substantial donation. Let's just say it probably eclipsed what we spent as a family for Christmas. And, knowing it would be doubled by our wonderful bosses made it that much sweeter.
The power of the Web really hits home when you realize families are being reunited through blogs, missing persons identified through online bulletin boards, and the fact that it's so easy to donate to charities via their respective web sites. Amazon.com is doing a great thing in putting a direct, one-click donation button on their front page for the American Red Cross.
And, remember, all donations are tax deductible. So, save your confirmation e-mails and factor it into your itemized deductions for 2004.
The organizations to which our president and co-founder are matching our donations. I encourage you to check them all out and decide what strikes you as most worthy.
Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontiéres)
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
Mercy Corps
Sarvodaya
Save the Children
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
United Nations World Food Program
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