The Value of Money

Far be it from me than to prevent someone trying to turn a profit, but I've been giving this whole Glenn Beck-9/11 thing some thought. People apparently want to pay their hard earned money to hear him speak and will happily fork over the dough to attend his rally in Alaska tomorrow.

Prices start at $65, but can run a whopping $200 if you want a Meet and Greet with Glenn himself. Seems kind of steep for this economic environment but, I guess it's only too high if there's no one willing to pay it.

Either way, for all of us outside of Alaska who have $65 burning a hole in our pockets just haunting us to give them a new home... I thought I'd find a few things we could do instead that would honor and commemorate this sacred date.

For $10 we can buy a mosquito net. Worldwide malaria kills over a million of people infected with the disease, and 90% of those deaths occur in Africa. Malaria is the leading cause of death in children in Africa, which is completely tragic because the disease is entirely preventable.

Since malaria is transmitted by mosquitoes, treated bed nets work as a cost effective barrier in places where window screens and expensive anti-malarial drugs are not an option.

And that's all for ten bucks.

It's hard to imagine that on our planet over a BILLION people don't have access to clean drinking water. The lack of safe drinking water not only causes 80% of all illnesses, but it annually kills more people than any form of violence, including war.

Of the 42,000 deaths each WEEK, 90% of those are children. Their bodies lack the ability to fend off these entirely preventable diseases. For just $20, you can provide clean drinking water to one person for 20 years.

Saving children from preventable disease with a bed net and water for about $30? Sounds like a bargain.

There's also St. Jude Children's Hospital that takes care of every child diagnosed with cancer despite their inability to pay. You can pledge a monthly gift of $19 and 81 cents of every dollar you give goes to treatment and research for the littlest victims of cancer.

Everywhere you look people are talking about the economic crisis. One in six Americans currently battle with hunger. If you donate to your local food bank, they can provide meals for the neediest families in your community for the price of a cup of coffee. For every $1 you give to Feeding America, it provides 7 meals.

For $65, that's 455 meals. (At three meals a day that's saving someone from hunger for over five months.)

Jesus said wherever your treasure is, there your heart will also be. (Luke 12:34). Maybe it's time we put our money where our mouth is. It's time to turn charity from a noun into a verb.