Do you ever watch the evening news and feel helpless at the poverty and tragedy of the humanitarian crises taking place in the world? Your heart feels heavy at such suffering, but you wonder what you could possibly do about it.
Over the past five years, 200,000 civilians have died due to violence, malnutrition, and disease in Darfur and an additional 2.2 million people have been displaced.
It’s an overwhelming problem, but one we can all take small steps to help with.
Combined, our small acts snowball into MASSIVE ACTION action and REAL CHANGE.
TrainforHumanity.org
Some inspiring bloggers (most notably, Leo Babauta of Zen Habits and my mate, Mark Hayward of My Tropical Escape) have stopped wondering what they could do to help, and actually gone out and created the non-profit Train for Humanity, which is an online humanitarian awareness and fundraising organization.
Over 150,000 new blogs are added to the internet everyday. Train for Humanity’s mission is to utilize the web, social media, and blogging, in tandem with athletes in training, to support organizations that help prevent suffering and alleviate the pain of children, orphans, and refugees who have been displaced due to genocide or internal strife and war within their country.
getting fit + social media + blogging = social good
The three pilot project athlete-bloggers, Mark Hayward, Dan Clements, and Leo Babauta are hoping to raise awareness for the current crisis in Darfur and funds for the organization Darfur Peace and Development. All three are training for endurance events of varying distances ranging from a triathlon to a marathon.
They hope to show people that with a little creativity and innovation, anyone can assist and make a difference in the world. If you would like to learn more, have a look at the Train for Humanity website and please consider sponsoring one of them or spreading the word.
So, join me and …
- Get yourself a badge for your blog
- Blog about the launch of Train for Humanity
- Stumble and Digg this post
- Stumble and Digg the Train for Humanity website and Mark Hayward’s inspiring post about how he came up with the idea for this organization
- DONATE
- Spread the word on Twitter and/or Plurk: (”bloggers join forces to launch trainforhumanity.org an online humanitarian nonprofit organization”)
- Tell your friends
Anything you do will help!
Please take this opportunity to support some amazing men with a BOLD VISION to help the people of Darfur.
They need us. Every one of us.
Thank you.
Kelly
Photo by pardeshi
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
What an awesome idea - thanks for sharing it here Kelly!
Lance’s last blog post..I’m Famous!
Kelly - you are awesome!! Thank you for the post and your support.
Can we hire you for press releases? Will you work for beer?
mark’s last blog post..How Did Train for Humanity Get Its Start?
@Lance
It is an awesome idea. That’s why I’m getting behind it 1000%.
@Mark
My pleasure. Glad to help. I hope we can all muster you guys up a bit of attention. Can you send beer to Australia?
Kelly
Thanks Kelly for your message on SU and bringing me to this website. We are actually fundraising for UNHCR to support the people in refugee. Our aim is to raise enough money by the end of this year to build three complete classrooms for their school.
You can read more about this initiative on our blog:
http://www.clickalifecoachblog.com/2008/09/help-school-children-in-darfur.html
Thanks
Thomas
I’m right behind you girl.
Chris’s last blog post..Do You Practice What You Preach?
Hi Kelly - This is a brilliant post and it will definitely encourage readers to support Mark and the rest of the team. I was going to blog about this too but I think I’ll just link to your article, as I couldn’t explain what they’re doing as well as you have.
Cath Lawson’s last blog post..How To Attract Amazingly Positive People
Kelly - This is a very noble idea. We all can make difference in our world by being compassionate and caring for the less fortunate. I’m proud of you.
Shilpan | successsoul.com’s last blog post..3 Reasons to Reject the Cult of Celebrity
Kelly,
What an awesome and inspiring blog. Sounds like something that can certainly benefit by a charitable donation - as well as visibility. We can do that together, can’t we?
Rita
Rita’s last blog post..“The Swanning”
Kelly, you are amazing.
Stumbled and tweeted.
Vered - MomGrind’s last blog post..Almost-Wordless Wednesday: Correct Your Nose Without Operation!
Hi Kelly: I donate regularly to Save Darfur and give 10% of my blog profits (meager at this point, but oh well) to that same organization. It’s awesome that you’re bringing awareness to such an important cause.
Marelisa’s last blog post..Four Creativity Lessons From the Impressionists
@Click A Life Coach
Thomas, thanks for stopping by to comment. That’s a wonderful fundraising goal - education really is a child’s best hope at a better future. Thanks for sharing it with us, and I’ll come by your site.
@Chris
Thanks mate
@Cath
Thanks for your blog post today. I know Mark appreciates all this support for Train for Humanity
@Shilpan
This is something I passionately believe - we can ALL make a difference in some way
@Rita
Yes, it would be wonderful if you could help spread the word and a bit of cash towards this. Thank you
@Vered
Thanks, though I haven’t done that much. It’s Mark and his wonderful idea and Leo and Dan who are the amazing ones.
@Marelisa
That’s wonderful you’re so involved in raising funds for Darfur. And I’m sure 10% of your profits in the future will be far from meager!
Thanks everyone for the support.
Kelly
This is a wonderful idea, and reading your post inspired me to do my part..Thank you!
BC Doan’s last blog post..Support “Train For Humanity”
Thank you for bringing this to light. What a wonderful project! I strongly believe that as bloggers we have the power to make a difference in our world for the good!
Wendi Kelly-Life’s Little Inspirations’s last blog post..A Letter to the World
Hi Kelly - thanks for letting us know about this!
(I must admit that at first I thought this was about a railway train - perhaps the runners will run as fast as a train!)
Robin’s last blog post..Insects Versus Mother Theresa
Let us unite for a great cause!
Great idea! I will check it out and post about it soon!
Kimberlee’s last blog post..Zen Koan Writing Series #5: Black-Nosed Buddha