A View From a Blue Martini is participating in Blog Relief Weekend, an effort to encourage readers of weblogs to contribute to the many worthy organizations providing assistance to those who have been affected by Hurricane Katrina. To date, bloggers from 20 countries have signed up. I recommend that you research all charitable organizations carefully before making your donations.
It is my pleasure to recommend Mercy Corps because they are very good at assisting communities impacted by disaster, while providing a solid foundation for communities to thrive in the aftermath of crises.
Mercy Corps was founded in 1979 as Save the Refugees Fund, a task force organized by Dan O’Neill in response to the plight of Cambodian refugees fleeing the famine, war and genocide of the “Killing Fields.” This fledgling organization helped focus America’s attention on the humanitarian crisis and provided lifesaving aid to hundreds of thousands of Cambodians.
By 1981, they had expanded their work to other countries and renamed ourselves Mercy Corps International to reflect their broader mission. They quickly shifted from simply providing relief assistance to focusing on long-term solutions to hunger and poverty. Their first development project began in Honduras in 1982.
Since then, Mercy Corps has grown and evolved, gaining national and international recognition for quick-response, high-impact, cost-effective programs around the globe.
Over the years, their work has touched families and communities in more than 74 nations across the world. They have delivered more than $1 billion in relief and development assistance, including food, shelter, health care, agriculture, water and sanitation, education and small business loans.
Today, Mercy Corps helps more than seven million people each year recover from disasters, build stronger communities and find their own solutions to poverty. They have been an international leader in responding to the massive tragedy of the Indian Ocean tsunami, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, massive food shortages in North Korea, ethnic conflict in the Balkans and economic transitions in Central Asia and the Caucasus.
Mercy Corps was among the first humanitarian groups to use relief and development programs to strengthen civil society. Simply handing out food, building a school or immunizing a child is not enough – especially in countries torn by ethnic conflict and economic transition. Just a few weeks of armed conflict can destroy roads, schools, businesses and health systems that took years of traditional development work to build. Working side by side with the poor, they bring diverse groups together to create societies that are more peaceful, open, democratic and economically strong.
Since their founding, Mercy Corps has been committed to good stewardship of the gifts entrusted to them. Their work is made possible through the generosity of thousands of caring individuals, corporations, foundations, faith communities and other donors.
Mercy Corps consistently ranks as one of America’s most effective and efficient charitable organizations. Last year, more than 92 percent of their resources went directly to programs serving people in need.
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