I am concerned about my growing insensitivity to the victims of tragedy and misfortune. Continuous news of terrorist attacks, beheadings, religious genocide, health epidemics, and racial unrest seems to have dulled my sense of compassion and created a growing feeling of indifference to the world around me. It’s becoming too easy for me to turn the page to the next story or switch channels to check the score of the game.
A few days ago, all that changed. I learned about a 12-year-old orphan girl in Uganda named Samantha Anywar. Samantha slipped in the bathroom in January and hit her head. She underwent surgery to remove blood from her brain and then was placed on life support. She is now in intensive care with good prospects to make a full recovery.
I know about Samantha Anywar because for the past 7 years, I’ve worked closely with an internationally recognized humanitarian organization in Uganda called Friends of Orphans. They have been caring for Samantha since her mother passed away when she was 5, and they have covered her medical bills which have totaled about $20,000 to date. They have exhausted their financial resources and have asked XSlaves.org (the non-profit organization of which I am Chairman) to help raise the $10,000 necessary to continue Samantha’s treatment. Without the funding, her treatments will stop and Samantha will die. We only have until March 19th to raise the money.
You might ask, as my own family did, “Why focus time and money on trying to save one child in Africa when there are billions of people starving and many others who are suffering? Why concentrate the money on one person when so many people could be helped by allocating those financial resources to other projects that can have a broader impact?” These are really good questions to which I don’t really have an answer. Maybe they are right. I just don’t know. What I do know, however, is that Samantha was put in my path for a reason. Now that I know her situation and know that I have the capability of raising the money, how can I turn my back on her? Maybe it took a 12-year-old orphan girl who needs help to awaken my sense of compassion and arrest the indifference that has crept into my life.
I hope you will take the time to learn about Samantha’s story in this 2-minute video. If you stumble on the same questions my family asked above or decide this is not your thing, I totally get it and respect that point of view. On the other hand, if you decide you would like to help Save Samantha’s Life, please share Samantha’s story with as many people as possible. If you would like to donate, you can either do so online at http://www.fundme.com/en/projects/17377-Saving-Samantha-s-Life or you can write a check made out to “XSlaves.org” and mail it to:
XSlaves.org
PO Box 2672
Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067
We’ll send you a tax-deductible receipt. Remember we only have until March 19th to raise the funds. Thanks so much for doing whatever you can to help Save Samantha’s life.
Soli Deo Gloria
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Jim Hollen is the owner and President of RICH LTD. (www.richltd.com), a 35+ year-old California-based point-of-purchase display, retail store fixture, and merchandising solutions firm which has been named among the Top 50 U.S. POP display companies for 9 consecutive years. A former management consultant with McKinsey & Co. and graduate of Stanford Business School, Jim Hollen has served more than 3000 brands and retailers over more than 20 years and has authored nearly 500 blogs and e-Books on a wide range of topics related to POP displays, store fixtures, and retail merchandising.
Jim has been to China more than 50 times and has worked directly with more than 30 factories in Asia across a broad range of material categories, including metal, wood, acrylic, injection molded and vacuum formed plastic, corrugated, glass, LED lighting, digital media player, and more. Jim Hollen also oversees RICH LTD.’s domestic manufacturing operation and has experience manufacturing, sourcing, and importing from numerous Asian countries as well as Vietnam and Mexico.
His experience working with brands and retailers spans more than 25 industries such as food and beverage, apparel, consumer electronics, cosmetics/beauty, sporting goods, automotive, pet, gifts and souvenirs, toys, wine and spirits, home improvement, jewelry, eyewear, footwear, consumer products, mass market retail, specialty retail, convenience stores, and numerous other product/retailer categories.