America is the most "kind and giving" nation on the planet.
Each year Americans give more than $240 billion to the more
than 700,000 charities that solicit your donations. From the
disastrous Tsunami that hit the Pacific Rim and Southeast Asia in
late December 2004, to the havoc of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and
Wilma, that devastated millions last year, Americans dug deep to
support local, regional, national and international relief
efforts, likely resulting in record donation numbers.
"As a nation we must accept and understand the grim reality that
millions of our own citizens, including helpless children, live
in the equivalent of third world conditions, and that despite our
incredible giving efforts, this travesty worsens each year," says
Dr. Hackett, a humanitarian who has directly helped more than
100,000 in need.
Her new book, "Making A Difference: Changing the World One Penny
and One Minute at a Time", includes the stories of individuals
living in poverty, practical ideas anyone can use to find
those in need in their own backyards as well as hundreds of
inexpensive, time efficient, and powerful ways to help. She
recommends familiarizing yourself with your community's
statistics; rate of homelessness, number of seniors and children
living in poverty, etc; and determining which agencies exist to
help them. From there, Dr. Hackett suggests you call up those
agencies to find out more ways to help beyond blindly writing a
check to charity. Among some of the simplest yet most powerful
ways to help Dr. Hackett says:
* Getting clean and dry socks on the feet of homeless people
can greatly reduce foot disease and injury, one of the most
common health concerns they experience.
* Collecting fruit that is about to be discarded by your local
supermarket and donating it to a soup kitchen, that can
rarely afford to offer such nutrition to patrons, can enhance
the diet of a poverty stricken child
* Assembling toiletry packets, a practice that is in vogue
when international tragedies hit, and getting them to low
income schools, can help our own children and teens enjoy
the simple luxury of a bath.
An important part of Dr. Hackett's message addresses our need to
realize that until we face the fact that we must help our own
before we can truly impact the entire world, need will continue
to rise both on the home front and abroad.
"To make true change, we must take care of those in our own
backyards first," she emphasizes. "Certainly as a nation we want
to reach out to the world, but how can we in all good conscious
do that and ignore the plight of millions here in our own land?
Surely the socially conscious members of Hollywood agree that an
American child forced to scrounge for food is every bit as
deserving of our help as one living in Africa."
Dr. Hackett suggests choosing one or more groups that desperately
need every bit of help imaginable. Included are: Helping seniors
living in poverty; reaching out to the homeless; feeding the
hungry through soup kitchens, food pantries and sandwich lines;
shining your light at low-income day-care centers and schools;
and meeting the special needs of women and children residing in
domestic violence shelters.
"Each one of us can help in many ways," she says. "Everyone
should have their own individualized 'Make a Difference' plan
that focuses your efforts in your own community first. This will
help you understand your 'need,' and ultimately lead you to
create the personal success and satisfaction you crave regarding
your place in the world, and ultimately toward making a
difference in your community--your world--that is well placed
and successful!"
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