Over the weekend I travelled to New York to visit two of my very best friends. We've been friends since elementary school and considering we're getting ready to turn 40 in a few short months it's safe to say that we are life-long friends. After college we lived at the beach before we started our career searches and after a couple of months of sun and fun we all were ready to get our lives started. One of us went back home to Maryland (that would be me), one of us stayed in North Carolina at the beach, and the other went off to the big city of New York. We do not take for granted that we we are fortunate to be able to get together several times a year. After our hugs and kisses hello we settled on the couch with a glass of wine and we started to chat about work, families, life choices, New Year's mantras, and life changing events.
Tragic life changing events.
There was really only one life event on our minds at that moment. We all naturally stopped to reflect on the sad, heart wrenching earthquake in Haiti. One of us confessed her plans to travel to Haiti to help and the other two of us sat in silence wondering how we could help too. That's when I remembered a discussion on my Facebook wall last Wednesday. After watching the evening news and seeing the extent of the earthquake on Haiti I updated my status to read, "thinking about the people of Haiti and their families in the US."
Almost immediately I received a response to my status update and 22 comments later it was obvious I wasn't the only Sodexo employee asking themselves how they can do more than just think and pray about everyone who has been touched by this.
The earthquake that has killed thousands and displaced as many as three million people in Haiti is a tragic life changing event. The realization that tragedy could hit and devastate lives in an instant is very real and it leads to many questions including, " what can I do?" Sodexo is a global company with offices in 80 countries and more than 350,000 employees. Our people are our strength.
The people of Haiti need food assistance as quickly as possible. To help support relief efforts in Haiti, Sodexo Group donated 100,000 Euros (nearly $145,000) to the World Food Program (WFP). The WFP is a United Nations organization known for their incredible logistical capacity and efficiency and they have food and staff already deployed in Haiti providing desperately needed clean water, food, shelter, blankets, and medical care.
So how can we best help the people of Haiti? By helping organizations like WFP with donations.
Organizations like WFP have emergency plans in place and know how to act fast. Their operation in Haiti is providing food for tens of thousands of people daily. In the week since the earthquake, more than 250,000 ready-to-eat food rations have been distributed by WFP and the U.S. military. They need our help to continue to make a difference.
I am going to make a donation and you can too.
If you are IN the US and want to make a contribution, please go to the following link: www.friendsofwfp.org/sodexo
If you are OUTSIDE the US and want to make a donation, please click here: https://www.wfp.org/donate/HaitiSodexo
2 comments:
I too was very touched by the outpouring of support from Sodexo and our employees. By supporting the WFP relief efforts, we can each make a difference. It only took moments for me to make my donation online. Haiti needs our help!
Excellent post and writing style. Bookmarked.
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