Charity Spotlight: Care for Life

I believe that one of the best opportunities that comes from being self reliant and prosperous is the greater ability to give of our abundance.  Giving financially is easier when you are self reliant and prosperous. As we've been able to store away some food & water and gotten a bit more wiggle room in our budget since I became a Shelf Reliance consultant, it has been easier to give financially and I love it.

One of the things that impresses me most about Shelf Reliance is how much they give back: to me as a consultant, to their hosts, and most importantly to those truly in need.  They donate 5% of all Thrive profits to their charity: Thriving Nations.  Inspired by them and other Shelf Reliance consultants, like Rachel or Autumn, I have also found a way to give back.  I donate one half of all the free product I earn from my sales through this site to my local food bank.

But true giving is so much more than relatively big things like that.  It is also more than monetary giving or even giving things.  What about giving time?  Patience? Understanding? Empathy? When was the last time you made dinner for a friend?  When was the last time you really listened to someone who needed it?  When was the last time you put aside your priorities to play with a child?  One can find ways to give no matter your economic standing b/c giving isn't limited to financial donations.


Once a month or so, I try to highlight a charity that has impressed me in some way.  This isn't because I'm trying to get you all to donate to them (although that would be wonderful), but because I'd like to inspire you to find your own ways to give back.  Don't have an abundance of food or income?  What do you have an abundance of?  What can you give to others?

I'd really love for this to turn into a discussion here on the site.  I would absolutely love to hear your ideas and thoughts.  How has giving impacted your life?  Have others given to you at times?  How did that change you?  Leave a comment, anonymously if needed, but let us know how giving has impacted your life.

Photo credit: Care for Life

This month's charity is Care for Life.  I read about them recently in an article in the Deseret News.  I highly recommend reading that entire article if you want some inspiration.  First, just a quick bit about how effective Care for Life has been in Africa:

 "In the villages where Care for Life works, the death rate has dropped from an average of 22 deaths every six months to five. The percentage of people with adequate housing is up from less than half to an average of 85. Thirty percent more children attend school. Employment statistics have more than doubled. Adult literacy rates have increased from 50 to 77 percent."

I chose to focus on them this month b/c they seem to get the idea that giving is something bigger, something more than just handouts.  Real giving stems from real charity: from love.  Real giving changes people, not just things. 

"Care for Life seems to have discovered a formula for inspiring hope among the destitute and giving them tools to help themselves. Even after the nonprofit pulls out of a village, the statistics continue to improve...The nonprofit organizes the villagers, teaches leadership skills and, through a system of goals — individual and community — requires them to earn everything they get. No handouts. No exceptions."

Photo Credit: Care for Life

To some that may seem harsh, but to me it is true giving.  They are not just giving these people things, but instead changing them so that they are better enabled to change their situations.  Care for Life doesn't create "dependence on foreign goods and foreign help."

At first, Cindy Packard, founder of Care for Life, began this organization like many others:

"She partnered with World Food Programme to pass out food to hungry students. A local nurse volunteered to start seeing patients in the corner of her classroom.  Hundreds came. Hundreds were helped. By all accounts, it was a huge success...Yet, something didn't feel right.  'We had this center,' said Cindy's husband, Blair Packard. 'We were offering a product. It was a good product, but we weren't impacting people in a lasting way.'"

So they decided to make changes.  They decided to stop telling people how to change their lives and instead "become an outreach program, going to the villages and mentoring them through the process of changing."

"Each family makes goals built on Care for Life's areas of emphasis: education, sanitation, family relations. The community makes goals together. Care for Life monitors their progress, and, as they reach goals, they are awarded with the supplies they need — but can't afford — to improve their quality of life."

Photo Credit: Care for Life

Felipe Castro Duarte is the father of one of those families.  His story, and that of his village, is incredible.  It starts on page 5 of the article.

"At first, Duarte said, he worked because he wanted to earn rewards from Care for Life. In the end, he worked because he realized his life was better.  'Other organizations come to give goods,' Duarte said. 'Care for Life comes to give work. For that, I am grateful.'  Duarte has a lot of theories about why he and his neighbors didn't do these things before. 'We were poor. We didn't believe in ourselves. We were lazy. We didn't know we should.'"

Alexandre Salva, a 51-year-old villager did not know what a goal was until Care for Live came.

"When you are so poor, I think you stop believing that things can be different. It made me feel powerful as a father to make these decisions for the good of my family.  Care for Life took away our excuses, gave us education and a reason to try."

So, did Care for Life change Alexandre and Duarte's village?  According to them, no:

"Care for life taught us how," he said. "We did the work ourselves."

Photo Credit: Care for Life

I love that!  Care for Life gives people the opportunity to improve their circumstances, to change themselves, to feel needed, important, capable and a valued part of a family and community.  What a gift to give!

If you'd like to learn more, here is a link to the Care for Life website.

I am an independent consultant for Shelf Reliance; a company with a mission to empower others to become self reliant, prosperous and charitable.  You can learn more about Shelf Reliance, becoming a Shelf Reliance consultant ,buying their products, or earning free products, on my Shelf Reliance Consultant website.