The days of quick fixes are over. Fen-phen ended up being a diet pill disaster. There isn't a short cut to weight loss or helping disaster victims. Aid concerts provide one exciting flurry of charitable giving, and then all is forgotten. We have entered the Elephant Age — we cannot forget.
It is our numbskulled human nature to forget, particularly when it involves pain. It's almost too much for our hearts to think about people who are still gravely affected by the Haiti earthquake, Katrina, Darfur, the Tsunami. Even Sandy: please let everyone be back to normal, we repeat silently to ourselves as we live our comfortable lives.
Band-Aids don't cut it any more. Long term solutions are necessary. Now and forever solutions. We need to keep vigil for our brothers and sisters. One organization is doing just that: AID STILL REQUIRED.
In 2012 the Huffington Post voted them as one of the top seven charities to watch. ASR's mission:
- To shift the global paradigm regarding natural disasters to embrace long-term solutions.
- Refocus the spotlight on natural disasters and human crises after they have left the
headlines, and - Create and support efficient programs custom-designed for each community to
engender self-reliance.
Check out their website and start getting your memory back.
If you are in the Los Angeles area you can refresh your brain cells at LOVE STILL REQUIRED, a Valentine's fundraiser for ASR on February 16, 2013. Learn more and get tickets at Brown Paper Tickets.
Maroon 5 is one of the esteemed members of ASR's 2013 Council of 100. Let them jostle your memory:
Let's all join the Elephant Age. I raise my trunk and glass to AID Still Required.
