Why not donate?

            When thinking about changing our world for the better, we tend to think about changing it in a big way—eliminating world poverty, saving the planet from global warming, helping cure cancer. We think about it in a way that it should be significant enough to be published in the news.  This shouldn’t  be the case. When it comes down to donating—to contributing to a cause that really matters, it only takes a little to change a lot.

            About three weeks ago, the East coast was ravaged by a freak storm named Sandy. The storm destroyed houses, killed approximately 100 people and left over 600 billion dollars of damage. Other than being evacuated from campus and having classes cancelled, the storm really didn’t affect me. Being an international student, I suffered no real consequences from the storm other than some relatives losing power for a bit. I don’t live on the east coast and I wasn’t planning on taking a NYC trip anytime soon, so why should I care? Heck, the closest I’ve been to the Jersey Shore is through MTV. I care because I have still have my house, my community and my life intact, and imagining the opposite is unthinkable.

            On a different note, you shouldn’t donate because someone forced you to or because it is the moral thing to do. You should donate because it’s really REALLY easy. More importantly, with all the upgrade in technology nowadays, you don’t even have to leave the house or get out of your PJ’s. You just click a button and bam—you’ve made a difference.

            Even contributing the smallest amount can make a big difference. If you’ve been wanting to cut back on your caffeine, give up coffee for one morning. You can even downside your venti to a tall—and you’ll still have enough left over to make a worthwhile contribution.

Regardless of whether you were directly affected by hurricane sandy, or you know someone who was, or you know someone who knows someone who was, there’s no real reason to not give up a dollar or two to help those in need. Your one contribution likely won’t eradicate all the damage caused by hurricane sandy—but it’ll sure help. 

#COMM30Sandy is an online class project for the Media & Society class at Lehigh University, taught by professor Jeremy Littau. You can donate to our campaign at this link, and for more infomation you can email Prof. Littau at jeremy.littau(at)lehigh.edu.