I hate to be a Debbie Downer on Christmas Day, but I woke up this morning thinking about people who can’t spend the holiday with their loved ones. I woke up thinking about wars.
War doesn’t take a holiday.
And both those fighting it and those directly affected by it are unable to enjoy the most important gift of all: peace.
If you’d like to let people affected by war know that you remember them today, here are three simple actions you can still take:
1. Send a soldier a song: Now through December 31, you can send a soldier a voucher for two free song downloads through a program sponsored by Billboard Magazine. Sending the voucher–along with holiday wishes–takes less than one minute of your time. Information about the program can be found here.
2. Put together a New Year’s care package: Make the holiday last longer with a New Year’s care package. You can see a list of commonly requested items and full instructions for sending military care packages here.
3. Remember victims and survivors of war: CIVIC (The Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict) offers numerous ways for concerned citizens of any country to get involved in supporting their campaign for rights of victims of war. One thing you can do today is sign an electronic petition asking President-elect Obama to support important policies that will help victims of war if Afghanistan and Iraq.
Photo: Army.mil (Flickr creative commons)
Julie Schwietert
Julie Schwietert Collazo is a writer, editor, researcher, and translator currently in New York, formerly of Mexico City and San Juan. She is Matador's managing editor and is the lead faculty member of MatadorU's travel writing program.
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