Over 11 million people in east Africa are currently suffering from the worst drought in over sixty years. 29,000 children under the age of 5 have already perished in the last 90 days alone due to this terrible tragedy.
Roughly half the entire Somali population stands in urgent need of assistance, yet, due to regional instability, aid has proven difficult to come by. Thousands of families have streamed across the border into refugee camps established in places like Dabaab, Kenya. The Dabaab camp, which was originally built to accommodate 90,000 people, must now serve over 387,000. MSF International estimates that over half a million people will settle in and around this camp alone by the end of 2011. The situation is dire - but not without hope.
In March, members of the NikeTalk community came together to donate over $20,000 to help support disaster relief efforts in Japan. Now, we are called upon to help those suffering amid this terrible hunger crisis in east Africa. Please join us in contributing to one of the world's most respected and responsible charities, Doctors Without Borders, as they work to provide supplies and medical care to those in need. With most media outlets preoccupied by the state of the US economy, it will be up to all of us to help spread awareness of this urgent and growing crisis.
To help, we've created a new group fundraising page here:
Our current goal is $3,000. In March, you guys amazed everyone by raising over $1,000 in under 24 hours. Your response to that tragedy easily ranked among our community's greatest achievements to date.
Given the relative lack of media attention, we're all going to need to work harder in order to achieve similar results for the people of east Africa.
Please donate today.
To show our gratitude for your generous and compassionate gifts, we'll be awarding users who donate over $10 with a special badge that will appear next to your posts.
If you give between $10 and $24, you'll receive the following badge, based on the Somali flag:
If you give between $25 and $99, you'll receive this badge, which also incorporates the Somali crest:
Those kind enough to donate over $100 will be recognized with this special NikeTalk badge:
***Please note that in order to receive your badge, you MUST:
1) Donate through our group fundraising page: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/niketalk/somalia
2) Leave your screen name in the comments section when making your donation!
Even in these challenging times, we all have the resources to help ease suffering as millions of men, women, and children struggle for their very lives.
May we all prove worthy allies in their fight for survival.
Update:
Thanks so much to everyone who's contributed thus far! Lana85's donation of $200 has put us up to $1,868.41. If we can just raise another $132 by midnight, we'll have raised over $2,000 together in under 48 hours!
4/12/12 Update:
To further support your efforts, the NikeTalk staff has just contributed $13,000 to Doctors Without Borders. This donation is now reflected on our fundraising pages, bringing the community total to over $18,000!
For those of you waiting until payday, keep in mind that, if you donate more than once, I will gladly upgrade your badge. So, if you give $10 today and $15 Saturday, you'll be eligible to receive the crests badge. Similarly, if you give $10 ten times, you can earn the $100+ badge. Just make sure you leave your NT sn in the comments section each time so we can easily verify your total.
