Ok, so normally my posts are about something fun, adult, or deep and meaningful. Today I felt I had to do something different.
Browsing through my personal Facebook newsfeed, I saw an article from Upworthy. Well, I see quite a few articles from UpWorthy and I do share them to try and get whichever worthwhile topic the article is about, out further into the world. The one I saw today was no different. It inspired outrage that this is happening, I shared, and was about to move on, happy that I had done my part.
Except I don't feel that it's enough anymore. Sure, I could donate to charities that support these causes. If I was made of money. There are countless causes out there, how do I decide which ones are more worthy? As a woman, I'm drawn to ones for domestic violence, sex slave trade, breast, ovarian and other typically female cancers. As an animal love, I'm drawn to all causes that are against animal trade, fur trade, ivory trade (the UpWorthy article that sparked this soap box episode of today), animal abuse, puppy mills, hunting endangered animals. As a parent, I'm drawn to those against child abuse, child sex trade, children sickness and, a big one for my family, infant and pregnancy loss organisations. And these are just some of the many worthwhile causes. It's impossible to choose.
My point in this post is this: with so many charities and causes out there, what can we do to help? We can flip a coin, or follow our heart and donate to ones we choose. We can join marches, volunteer for charity organisations, participate in things like Shave or Colour for a Cure, Movember, Red Nose Day, World Morning Tea Day, etc. All of these help us feel good, that we've done our part. But what we mostly need to do is research and make sure that what we are doing is actually making a difference. A lot of charities, the bigger ones usually, keep a large portion of donations made to line their own pockets. We need to make sure that our money is getting where it needs to go, and not to an organisation that is taking more than is required to keep it running. While I understand that it's a lot of hard work to keep a charity going, I don't think it's right for those running the charities to be living on hundreds of thousands of dollars each year, while only a small portion of the money giving to that charity for their cause actually reaches the target. It's high time that those who are running the charities remembered what is actually important: the cause. Take a large pay cut, down to a reasonable amount, and make sure the money is going to where it is actually needed!
Of course, that's not to say people should stop donating, or stop signing petitions or sharing to their social media followers. Keep it up! It all does help. The more you can do the better, of course. I'm hoping to get fit enough to be able to do a run in the latter half of next year to raise money for Bears of Hope or a related charity close to my heart.
I hope I got my point across. To actually make a difference, do more than just click "share". Do whatever you can do to make that cause get out there. We can make the world a better place.
*steps down from soap box*
