Helping Those Without Insurance or Health Care

I’ve written a lot lately about health insurance and health savings accounts. Sometimes I get so caught up worrying about health care costs that I forget there are many people in the world that don’t have health care, let alone health insurance.

Addressing this global health need seems like such an enormous task, it’s hard to know where to start.  Luckily there are people who aren’t deterred or overwhelmed and are taking actions to make a difference.  Below we’ll hear from a friend of mine and a supporter for one of these initiatives called Peace Care.

A Holiday Giving Message

First of all, I would like to extend a very special thank you to Ben for allowing me to use his Money Smart Life forum to talk about a cause that I am very passionate about – Peace Care.  While a little off topic from the usual money management themes, the holiday season is great time to think about how fortunate we are and seek out opportunities to help those that are less fortunate. 

If you are already an active participant in a charity, great!  If you are looking for an opportunity to support a charity, please check out Peace Care and consider making a small donation through the fundraising site Tipping Bucket.

What is Peace Care?

Peace Care is a nonprofit organization with the mission of cultivating collaborative, community-level global health solutions.  Peace Care’s founder, Dr. Andrew Dykens, is a Peace Corps veteran and founded Peace Care as a vehicle to link his resources as a medical doctor with underserved communities much like the one he served as a Peace Corps volunteer. 

Peace Care hopes to have an impact by building health care capacity in low income countries which are impacted by a shortage of 4.3 million health care workers globally, according to the World Health Organization. 

Charitable Donation Drive

Starting December 9th and continuing through December 19th, Peace Care is partnering with Tipping Bucket to run a 10-day online fund drive to raise $10,000 through collecting micro-donations of as little as $1.

The proceeds from this drive will be used to fund a collaborative project between Peace Care, the Peace Corps, the health district of Saraya, Senegal and the University of Illinois Chicago to improve health care delivery within the local existing health care system. 

Specifically for this project, they will focus on cervical cancer screening and prevention, prevention of sexually transmitted illnesses, and diarrhea prevention.  You can learn more about this project on the Peace Care Sengal page.

What is Tipping Bucket?

Tipping Bucket helps non-profits, social businesses, and startup social entrepreneurs leverage social media to fund projects that do social good.  This approach is designed to open philanthropy to all who want to make the world a better place – not just the wealthy and powerful.  You can learn more about Tipping Buckets on the Peace Care Sengal page.

Ben Edwards, the founder of Money Smart Life, saved up enough to buy a Nintendo back when he was 12 years old. When he used the money to buy shares of Wal-Mart stock instead, he knew he wasn't like the other kids... His addiction to personal finance has paid off for his family and now he's helping you to afford the life that you want. Check him out on the web at Google Plus, Twitter and Facebook.

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