Giving, it’s the American Way.

Whenever tragedy strikes the benevolence of the American people always pours out. The world media may paint an ugly picture or America but when it comes down to it we are willing to put our words into action. We may be a politically split nation but one thing is common among most Americans; we are a very charitable people.

It may just be five or ten dollars but when you add it all together it becomes something significant. The last solid figure I was able to find in regards to text messaging donations was over $10 million. Even though it has been reported that the funds raised will take at least 90 days to be put to use there is no doubt that the money will be needed much longer than 90 days from now.

Corporations Doing Their Part.

The mega corps of America are pitching in as well. According to 24/7 Wall St., companies including Wal-Mart, GOOGLE, AT&T and Morgan Stanley are all helping out in one way or another. For the sake of not being cynical I won’t get too in-depth on the amounts compared to personal donations but I will say that most of these companies can afford it, and it’s a write off, but it’s still great to see them helping out.

Here is a small example of giving. You can read the whole article here, pasting the entire article would be a bit redundant.

“Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) has pledged $600,000.00… $500,000 in cash and and $100,000 in pre-packaged food.  Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) is donating $500,000.00 and more than 1 million meals.” … “McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) is donating of $500,000.00 to be matched with donations from Arcos Dorados, the company that operates nearly 1,700 McDonald’s restaurants in Latin America, and combined are estimated to total at least $1 million.” … “T&T Inc. (NYSE: T) pledged $50,000 donation to Telecoms Sans Frontieres to support relief work in providing telecom to victims in Haiti; while AT&T wireless customers can send donations to the Red Cross through a text message to be added to the customer bill.”

Not Just an American Affair.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not pointing out American giving to make it sound like no one else is giving to the cause. Being an American I am just speaking from a personal point of view. Of course everyone else is doing their part to help Haiti as well. As diverse as each race is, as human beings we all share the spirit of giving and will come to the aid of our fellow man when they are down and out.

The following data is taken from The Guardian and may not be 100% all inclusive and doesn’t take account of individual country contributions, ie ships or aid trucks. You can get more detailed information on that by going to ReliefWeb.

According to The Guardian the United States has made the most contributions, their total show $131,014,571 in aid, which equals out to be $0.42 per person and 8.33% of their numbers. Right behind America is Canada, with $130,733,773 which ends up being 8.31% and $3.89 per person. They are followed by Europe, UK and France.

The totals don’t matter much to me. I am not pointing them out to hold one country above the other. The reality is that the response to the crises in Haiti has been unsurprisingly astounding. The only thing that equals the level of tragedy in Haiti is the outpouring of money and donations from people around the world. It happens everytime tragedy strikes and is proof that the individual can always be more effective than any government could.

In Closing?

Putting aside political, religious and racial differences to help out other human beings is the root of the spirit of giving. Regardless of religion or political affiliation people are inheritably good. I really believe that. Tragedy and events in life may cause some to turn for the worst but at their core is a spirit of love and kindness. If we focus on that, and push aside the bitterness and dark tendencies of human nature we can really make a difference. The outpouring of caring in the form of hard earned money is a perfect example of that.

Group hug now. Just kidding, but seriously, it’s nice to reflect on the positive for a change.

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