An opportunity to give, and be thankful
When I heard the terrible news about Haiti, I was concerned for my family there. There was no communication. The next day we got a hold of everyone, and thankfully they were fine. But as we know now, the damage is extensive.
When I heard about the number of people who died, I couldn't believe it. Initially tens of thousands were lost, and the number kept climbing.
My personal reaction was: What can I do? I wanted to go there, but there was no way to travel. I decided to help with fundraising.
I chose to donate to Save the Children. First, because they have people on the ground in Haiti. Second, with so much death, there will be a lot of orphans in Haiti. It was a problem before the earthquake, and now it's going to be an even bigger problem. How do you help the future of the country? Help young children who can impact the future.
Tellabs' global sales team just happened to be meeting this week. I talked to the head of our team, Roger Heinz, and he agreed that we should ask our colleagues to give to this cause. Together, we challenged our team to help Haiti.
The reaction was amazing. So many people came up to me. First, concerned about me and how things were going for my family. Second, genuinely concerned about Haiti.
And, the request to help Haiti really fit with our sales meeting teambuilding activity. This year, we focused on corporate responsibility by splitting into teams to help ten different charitable organizations. Everyone loved it; I was very touched by my experience, and everyone I've spoken to has echoed that.
With the teambuilding and work for Haiti, this was a very different type of conference for me. I'm an engineer, so I'm usually logical and intellectual. During this conference I found myself very emotional and overwhelmed.
The conference is over, but there are still many opportunities to help others. People will see those opportunities everywhere, and will take them. This experience reminds me that we take a lot for granted in our daily lives. But on our worst day, we still have a lot. There are people in a tough situation in Haiti. It's good to take time out and reflect on this.
We're encouraging our team to keep donating to the drive through this week. I am grateful for the gifts we've gotten so far, and I can't wait to see how it turns out.
You will be happy to know Save the Children has been asked by the UN to act as the lead on child reunification, restoring education, and on implementing child friendly spaces (which restore a sense of normalcy for children and respite for parents, mainly in tent cities that are popping up ). It is a clear indication of the expertise and leadership of Save the Children -- which you are supporting. If you'd like to see more on our response or read a blog or hear a podcast from those working in Haiti, visit our website www.savethechildren.org. Thank you Adrien for choosing Save the Children as the steward for your donation and those of the Tellabs employees. We will ensure your gifts will be put to the best use as quickly and efficiently as possible. Please contact me if you have any questions or further ideas at dbogue@savechildren.org.
Thank you again.
All the best,
Diana Bogue
Dir Special Gifts
Save the Children
Great job!