Feeling good by Doing good

By now, I know that everyone is aware of the destruction that has taken place in Haiti. 80-90% of the buildings in Port-au-Prince have been destroyed, and although is it unconfirmed, there is talk of around 20,000-30,000 dead. While I have done my fair share of traveling overseas, and to other countries, I still live a rather privileged life in New York and do not pretend to know or understand the devastation that the Haitians and other inhabitants of Haiti are experiencing right now. I confess, I do not generally consider myself to be overly philanthropic. Yes I have been a part of Charity Leagues, and have volunteered a considerable amount of times over the past 4 years in college, and have even done Meals-on-Wheels in the city, it is not something that I dedicate a large amount of time in my life to, as selfish as that may sound. Still, something about the Haiti coverage really moved me (yes I cried at the Today show footage...) and I decided to do something about it. A girlfriend of mine works at CNN and has been doing some research of an organization called Charity:Water. Charity:Water is organizing a plane to leave New York on Tuesday (yes tomorrow!) and requested some items to fill 'er up! Working at a consulting firm, people are constantly bringing back toiletries that they pick up during their hotel stays for the few other charities that my company helps out. I made a special request and was able to gather up a rather large amount of soap and shower gels to donate! My girlfriend and I headed out on Saturday to donate and it was really incredible to see the large amount of items that they had collected already...

Another thing about Charity: Water that I find particularly interesting is the photos. They have some amazing pictures around the office of bringing clean, fresh water to developing countries, and their website photos are incredible as well. If you get a chance, definitely check them out. And if you live in New York, you can still donate! Just go to this site for details. Getting my butt out of bed on Saturday and doing something that would benefit other peoples lives really made me feel good. Perhaps that still makes this a selfish move, but if I can make myself feel better by doing better, and making someone else's life better, than I'll take that hands down ;)