Ok, this blog might come off as unkind. But that is not the case. I simply mean to rant/vent about charities. Yeah, I know, I sound like an ass, but I assure you, I have a point to make. So watching TV during the peak hours of it's greatness - Sunday morning - I've noticed many of these World Vision advertisements describing the needs of children of Africa. It is really quite sad how they continually show these poor families, and especially the children who are living in these terrible conditions. I do not deny the fact that these people need help. But I believe it no longer about a single family donating money to help a single child. Does all your money even get there? Does "just a dollar a day" actually make a big difference in someone's life? I've heard so many statistics about the percentage of money that gets there, I'm not even going to mention them. I understand that giving money to World Vision is a good thing, because it is. But sometimes we find ourselves so sympathetic to something that is so far away. It is easy to see the poverty when it's on TV. It is easy to think "It's far away." But in reality, it's not far away. There are people in our cities who have trouble making ends meet. People are so willing to give their money to Africa, when their neighbour 4 houses down is working 2 jobs just to put food on their table for their family. We have become so blind as a society to the poverty that is in our streets. There are a lot of homeless people right in our own communities that need help. So why are we so willing to just give our money to a country that needs billions of dollars worth of help when we can help someone who is right next to us? Africa's problem is a huge one. A dollar a day isn't going to cut it. It's in the hand of our governments now. I'm not saying stop donating, because all charities are good. But next time you watch those advertisements, try and remember there are people in your very own city in that very same situation who could use your help as well.