Giving a Little

 Each day at 5:45 when my alarm sounds, I wonder how I will be able to make it through another day. As I stumble out of my room, I resent the fact that I barely got any sleep, didn’t have enough time to study for two tests, and my homework is far from finished. As I pass my bulletin board, a cut-out from a pamphlet catches my eye. It reads, “What isn’t covered on TV and in the papers is how hunger, disease, and poverty killing millions and millions of children every year. 29, 000 every day—-more than the tsunami every week. 10,585,000 last year alone. That’s almost a million people who die every month–a million deaths that could be prevented. 20 people dead every single minute. One more every 3 seconds.” Stated by World Vision. My mind instantly forgets my own troubles and goes back to the place I got those stats. It was three years ago and it was a fundraiser in which my church participated. We were going to raise money for starving people, in places like Africa. The fundraiser focused upon fasting, and it wasn’t just the usual skipping of lunch. We would have to fast for 30 hours!!  Despite the prolonged time period I quickly seized the opportunity, and got people to sponsor me.   After the end of the fundraiser, I was hungrier than I had ever been in my life. Although hungry, it was nothing compared to what some people go through on a daily basis. I realized I could not even imagine how it must feel to be truly starving. In my opinion there are four groups of people in this world: the people who are ignorant of what is occurring , the people who know about it but are not financially or physically able to help, those who know but chose do to nothing, and finally the people who want to make a difference in the lives of the distressed. No matter what kind of you are person, old or young, male or female, poor or wealthy, you can change a life. The only question remaining is, will you? You don’t need to quit your job and move to a third world country, all I’m asking you to do is to think. Think about real human beings, brothers and sisters, perhaps a baby, and certainly her mother, all so weak from famine they are paralyzed with hunger and thirst. Think about all the lives that could be saved. So next time you pass a collection jar, drop some money in. Imagine how different the world would be if everyone would just give a little.