Day 6 of the 11 Blogs of Christmas points toward thinking about those who don't have a beautiful 8 foot Christmas tree in their living rooms, like we do.
You can start downloading Forget About Me at the download page here, and while its doing its thing, read on about ways you can help those in need during the holidays and year round.
The song starts out with a kid who want's something that he might not get - a new leather jacket, or a TV set, and his mama says "don't worry, Santa won't forget." Lucky kid.
Then we're two blocks way, in a world of doubt where its a little colder, 'cause the fire's gone out. And some poor kid want's something that he might not get - a little something to eat before he goes to bed. And his mama says "don't worry, God won't forget."
I'm gonna have a merry, merry Christmas
I'm gonna trim an eight foot Christmas tree
I'm gonna pray for them that God remembers
and I'm telling Santa, to forget about me
The fact that people in the Bay area - in America - anywhere in the world - go hungry, is just really stupid. Thank God for people who are passionate about creating and sustaining programs to end hunger. Our friend Pat Plant started Sunnyvale Cares about 5 years ago, with the goal of ending hunger in Sunnyvale California. Period. End hunger in Sunnyvale - seems like an attainable goal, doesn't it? Now each month churches from all faiths throughout this Bay Area suburb bring literally tons of food to the central collection point at Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church and it is distributed through six different agencies in the city. The point is to solve hunger, period, no strings. Because its stupid for anyone in a city with an average family income of over $90,000 to go hungry.
The Second Harvest Food Bank is another local agency that we support and have great respect for. Second Harvest has a Four Star rating on Charity Navigator. They offer a variety of programs in addition to the typical holiday food drives, including a summer "Share Your Lunch" program to provide nutritious lunches during the summer months for children who's parents depend on school lunch program during the school year.
Find out how you can help Second Harvest raise $8 million and collect 1.7 million pounds of food this holiday season.
Or donate to the food banks in your area - because, say it with me, people going hungry is just stupid.
And so is war. And the ravages of war.
In another village, a world away
the bombs are dropping, and the mines are laid
and some poor kid wants something that she may not get
just to know if her daddy's alive or dead
and a mama that still believes, God won't forget
My son is a high school freshman. His world geography teacher is one of those gems - the teachers who love to figure out how to engage kids in what they are learning. One of the first things they did at the beginning of this school year involving teaching the kids about the realities of the third world. Each student was assigned a country to "be" in this little game.
The next day the teacher set up a beautiful table with iced water bottles at each place setting and a big cake in the middle. The desks were still set up in the middle of the room ... but over in the opposite corner was a ratty blanket on the floor. Then came the bad news. She read the name of each student's country and told them that they were either part of the first world, second world or third world... and where they would be spending the rest of the class period. The second worlders also got water bottles, but the third world got little paper cups and one warm bottle to share among them. Then came the lesson in third world relief. Those at the table, enjoying their cake and iced water and those at the desks (this was September in California, it was hot) were invited to share with those in the third world. The third world countries all shouted out why they thought they should get the cake and water. They held out their little paper cups. They grabbed for cake crumbs.
I'm sure at the time she wasn't sure if this was having an impact - I can just imagine the mayhem in that classroom. But in the next weeks those students learned more about their countries, and how we all relate to each other in this world.
Kevin's country was Sierra Leone, the blood diamond capital. And yes, it had an impact. Here's just a sampling of what he found out:
A devastating civil war gripped Sierra Leone throughout the 1990s and into the turn of the century. Rebels gruesomely amputated the hands and feet of men, women and children, both to terrorize the population and to deter them from supporting the government.
Learn more about the Prosthetics Outreach Foundation and how you can help the Sierra Leone amputees.
And here are some other links that my blog and Twitter friends have suggested, as you sit by your eight foot tree in your very warm home this Christmas season:
Kiva lets you lend to a specific entrepreneur in a developing country, empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty.
Heifer International works with communities to end hunger and poverty and to care for the earth, giving families a source of food rather than short-term relief.
Donors Choose, where teachers list projects, you choose what you want to fund, and if you fund the project to completion you get a report from the classroom which is very cool.
Veterans for Peace, working together for peace and justice through non-violence.
Veterans for America Campaign for a Landmine Free Worldhas, for more than a decade, worked to raise awareness about the suffering and devastation caused by landmines by advocating for a global ban on antipersonnel landmines. Also check out the Concerts for a Landmine Free World CD featuring tracks from some of our favorite performers.
Feel free to add more suggestions in the comment section. There are so many ways you can help.
I'm gonna have a merry, merry Christmas
I'm gonna trim an eight-foot Christmas tree
I'm gonna pray for them that God remembers
and I'm telling Santa, to forget about me
