Over the last week, as I have watched the steady stream of news coverage relating to the devastating aftermath of the earthquake/ tsunami in the Indian Ocean, I continue to look for a way to help. Just last night as I was watching the latest coverage of the death and destruction I said to myself and verbally expressed to my family that I want to go over there. I have a burning inner desire to do something to come to the aid of those suffering.

During what has been described as one of the worst disasters in recorded history people all over the world have stepped forward to provide relief to the people of those regions most affected by the recent demonstration of Mother Nature’s incredible power. I am sure that many of you have asked yourselves the questions, “What can I do to help?”, “What can be done to assist those left behind to clean up the mess to prevent any further loss of life?”.

I wish we could all ban together to provide aid and relief for all those who are now suffering due to the loss of their loved ones, their livelihoods, and the loss of all their material possessions. Like myself, I am sure that most of you share this desire to participate in a positive way to rescue these people, who now are at risk of dieing from any number of other causes.

With these thoughts in my head, I contacted various relief agencies, offering the assistance of Operation Give and its assets. Those assets being our relationship with FedEx and the many generous people out there willing to help.

I know that usually Operation Give is involved in providing hope and assistance to suffering children and soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, but now we need to take part in the largest relief effort ever organized. We need to do whatever we can to provide aid and assistance to those now suffering the most in Thailand, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and elsewhere.

I invite all of you reading these words to now join together to give what we can in the form of money or much needed items to help the hundred of thousands of people suffering. Let’s take advantage of the great relationship we have with FedEx who has been providing free shipping for all our packages to Iraq and now use them again to send what we can to the region of the world hit by this terrible natural disaster. We need to quickly gather enough supplies to fill a FedEx cargo plane and get it to the charitable agencies we are working with in the Tsunami stricken areas of Asia.

Operation Give “Fill the Plane” campaign. If you send it I will make sure it gets over there. Send whatever you can but please do so quickly. The people are in dire need and will not last long without your help.

Give some thought to what they might be in need of. If you send money we will make sure that it goes towards the purchase of much needed items. We are all volunteers and take no compensation for our efforts.

Here are a few suggestions:

Please make sure that you are sending new items. We don’t have time to sort through things here at the warehouse. Time is of the essence.

Bottled water
Hygiene items (PLEASE See Reverend Sensing’s post on creating these kits)
Medical supplies: Bandages, alcohol, disinfectants, etc.
Water purification
Packaged food
New Cooking utensils
Water containers
New Clothing
New Shoes
Tarps
Etc.

AGAIN, NEW ITEMS ONLY.

Once you have gathered the necessary items, call me at 801.259.6336 and we will arrange for FedEx to pick them up at your home or at a FedEx drop-off location. On your boxes, please CLEARLY mark them “Fill the Plane” so we know it is intended for this campaign!

I am sure you can come up with even more things they would need.
I am sorry it took me this long to come up with an idea of how we might help.

Now is the time to act. Thanks in advance