I used to be this careless, un-inhibited stupid girl, refusing to be bogged down with the ills of society, and kids no less. To me, kids were a noise, something I tolerated. I always felt that there were enough people caring about children and that not enough people were helping animals. So I always gave to animal causes.

There were 2 events that changed my life as it pertains to our purpose:

1) the birth of my son Ryan and 2) the story about Baby P.

bABY P's is the story that launched my rightous indignation against perpetrators of abuse.  I won't go into details, you can read about it yourself if you google baby P. When I read his story I was physically ill and could not gain control of my legs or my tear ducts. This child was beaten so profusely, the only thing jurors were allowed to see was digital images of the damage to his little body. There are stories all the time similar to baby P's and many of the same stories happen but are never heard!

There were so many people that could have spoken up, but didn't. So many people were aware but didn't care, because it doesn't affect them. If it doesn't affect you why get involved? Because it DOES affect you. People who are abused continue the abuse cycle, sometimes so extreme is THEIR pain, that they feel others should feel it too. That's your mall-shooters, and your university campus shooters, and your garden variety abused or neglected kids that you thought didn't affect you.

Factors that make matters worse for little kids in the abusive household:

1) Social Workers don't get paid worth a sh*t to do what they do, and because of that there's not enough of them to handle many cases of reported abuse. Those cases then get thrown out.

2) The economic downturn means there's less Social Workers to go around as cases of abuse increase

3) The economic downturn means more people are worried about themselves than caring for anything else, least of all children.

4) Nobody cares about children because they think everyone cares about children, which is not true- see my very first paragraph.

5) People don't report abuse they see for fear of retaliation, or they just don't want to get involved...deadly sentences for the child, who doesn't have a voice.

Why does giving  your money help children? Because it shows you are aware and attempting to fix a problem. Because it's the right thing to do. Because in giving to others, we find love and we are distracted from our own selves-the ultimate form of humility. Because children are worth investing anything and everything in. Because our future depends on how we treat a child. Charities all over the place are doing things for children that you and I can't. Help them out by giving, even a little bit, of either your time or money....

You never know how soon it'll be too late...so donate!