A challenge to change.

My anonymous friend has returned. And as usual, she was brimming with
inspiration - literally.

Her latest post is entitled "Make Change"

Anonymous friend has proposed a challenge for herself, and for her
family. And she's challenging everyone. And I'm taking it on.

"... I decided that I'd keep a jar sitting on my dresser, or my
kitchen counter, or my entryway table...anywhere. I would keep all the
change I found in my car, under the cushions of my couch, jingling in
my pockets and I would place it in that jar.

At that end of the month or maybe even every few months I would empty
that jar and donate that amount of money to a country where relief is
a sacred word uttered only by the incredibly lucky.

My first initiative I thought...would be Darfur. With the inhumane and
utterly disturbing things occurring in that region, I knew it was
something I could not ignore and could never be excused for not doing
my part to help stop the tragedy that is the lives of so many.

A dollars amount can help feed someone who has nothing.

I emptied my the loose change from my purse into the little butter
container I recycled and labeled "Darfur Relief."

Two dollars. Two meals...perhaps for the child dodging bullets and
hiding from rape on her way to a dirty pool of water for a drink.

I placed the container on my counter and explained my initiative to my
family at dinner.

Quietly afterwards they reached in their pockets and pulled out change
they didn't even realize they had.

Three dollars...four...five....as the change clinked and clattered in
the jar I realized how so little..can make such a real difference.

With a smile on my face, I picked up my phone and texted my fiance. I
shared the idea with him and he excitedly agreed to adopt it it
himself and pass it on.

He thought...maybe one household can only produce a small amount each
month...but if all our friends and their friends placed a little jar
labeled "Darfur Relief" on their dressers or counters or
tables...perhaps then something small could make a world of
difference...

...make a difference in the world."

Gandhi said: "be the change you wish to see in the world."

This challenge truly embodies those words.

So please - be the change.