“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.”
—Melody Beattie
Even in tough times like these, we all can count our blessings on Thanksgiving. We can be thankful for our family, the accident of our birth in a nation with abundant food and water, and a roof over our head. We also can be thankful we are not one of the millions of people around the world (nearly 44 million in 2010) forced to flee their homes as a result of armed conflict, generalized violence, or human rights violations.
What can these vulnerable people be thankful for?
You!
Yes, a minuscule portion of the taxes you and citizens of other donor countries pay supports the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which protects, houses, feeds, educates, and opens the door to a new life for refugees and people who have been displaced within their own countries. But for just $5 (less than what you might pay for lunch), you can also join the Blue Key Campaign and show your support for the world’s most vulnerable people and the UNHCR staffers who work tirelessly to safeguard their rights and well-being.
For your $5 donation, you get a Blue Key pin or pendant symbolizing our power to help them open the door to a new home and a new future.
I joined the Blue Key Campaign after learning more about it from my friend Shonali Burke who is leading an effort to organize bloggers on behalf of USA for UNHCR (a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) that raises awareness and funds for the Geneva-based UNHCR). She’s asking bloggers to write posts like this one, wear their Blue Key to show their support, spread the word on Facebook and Twitter (using the #bluekey hashtag), and ask everyone they know in the United States to get their own Blue Key for $5.
Getting back to the subject of Thanksgiving…
When the pastor of our church asked my 4-year-old daughter last Sunday what she is thankful for, she answered, “my dog.” She later explained she is thankful loving people rescued him, so we could have him to love. (You can see our dog, a former stray we obtained from Beagle Rescue of Southern Maryland, in the photo above sporting two Blue Keys.)
You can only imagine the depth of gratitude another 4-year-old child would feel for the loving people who helped rescue her mommy or daddy, so she could have them to love.
Just $5 is such a trivial price to pay to open the door to a new life. So spread the gratitude. Share the love. Get your key right away, and ask those at your Thanksgiving table to do the same!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Your turn! Do you have any special Thanksgiving stories or thoughts about the Blue Key Campaign?
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