The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) seem so big, can I really make a difference? The answer is yes, you can. You don't have to travel around the world to improve the health of the world's people. Use one of the suggestions below, or come up with your own and let us know what you've done to make a difference.
Powerful Individual – Use your passion and your strengths to get involved at a local level through individual participation.
- Search the Web for keywords: habitat, heifer, human trafficking, malaria nets, sponsor a child, clean water, AIDS, poverty, end poverty, World Health Organization, homeless, micro loans, etc. Find a program where you can use your talents.
- Volunteer with a literacy program.
- Donate food or time to shelters for the homeless or victims of domestic abuse.
Chapter Champion – Utilize chapter resources to do what we alone cannot accomplish.
- Sponsor a health fair in an underserved area.
- Organize a “Well-Babies Expo” and get local businesses and resources to help sponsor and exhibit at the event.
- Start a mentoring program with a local teen pregnancy center in your area.
- Team up with a charitable organization and start a “Nurses for Nets” fundraising program that sends anti-malaria nets to the most needy in the world.
- Partner with an appropriate hospital or clinic and create a “Breast is Best” campaign.
- Assemble hygiene/care packages to be sent to areas in need.
World Citizen – Look for big projects that could take you around the world.
- Take an overseas trip organized by a group with a specific cause that interests you.
- Find a disaster relief organization that needs nurses who can travel for short or long-term assignments.
- Check your religious establishment for faith-based outreach projects.
The difference you make inspires others:
Submit your story today!
“The difference between what we do and what we are
capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the
world's problems.” Mahatma Gandhi