Ian Saxine Columnist

In many ways, 2005 was not a good year by any stretch of the imagination. It began with much of Asia still reeling from the shock of a tsunami. A pair of hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico put New Orleans underwater, and a massive earthquake in Pakistan cost tens of thousands of lives. AIDS still holds Africa in its deadly grip, and new, tougher strains of other diseases are emerging. Seemingly unwilling to let nature have a monopoly on death, humanity managed to keep its customary destructive cycle of violence going strong with terrorism, war, and genocide.

Love them or hate them, the people in power in Washington, D.C. have proved ineffective with the tasks put before them, and I dare anyone to prove that humanity is better off now than in January 2004. But before you write me off as a pessimist, let me add that this is not the whole picture. Another side to all that has been going on has been the efforts of people around the world to respond to various disasters. Vast quantities of aid have been funneled to New Orleans, Pakistan, and other stricken locations. Not enough, but still, it is a start. And hopefully, the increase in philanthropy sparked by the past year will carry over beyond merely remedying big-name disasters.

Visible, headline-grabbing disasters often attract an outpouring of generosity, but for billions of people, almost all living in the third world, every day is a slow, grinding though silent disaster. According to United Nations statistics, half of the world’s population ekes out a living on two dollars a day or less. 790 million people are chronically undernourished, and one billion are completely illiterate. Of course, if governments like the U.S. diverted part of their military budget to remedying this problem, progress would be made. However, that is a familiar refrain. Personally, I believe that true progress can happen with individuals.

Several years ago, when the UN made a report on the issue, it revealed that Americans spent $8 billion dollars that year on cosmetics. The total U.S. funding for world education: $6 billion. America and Europe also managed to spend $12 billion on perfume that year, along with $11 billion on ice cream, $50 billion on cigarettes, and $105 billion on alcohol in Europe alone. And, last but not least, the $17 billion spent on pet food in those same countries.

Personally, I have often felt insignificant in comparison to the magnitude of poverty and misery in the world. I was, like many people, unsure about what to do, and so, like a deer in the headlights, I froze and did nothing. I was also wrong in doing so. Food, basic sanitation, and education are three relatively cheap commodities these days. Little bits do make a difference, and one of the main obstacles to increasing philanthropy in the developed world is that most people are not aware of ways to make constructive donations with small amounts of resources. If everyone in America alone put aside one dollar a day to give to the United Nations Children’s Fund or the Global Fund for Children, that would be $300 million a day. A year of that would make progress, and all for the cost of a dollar a day.

One of the things I admire most about Vassar is the enthusiasm to help others that is so prevalent here. Students give their time and energy to Hunger Action, Habitat for Humanity, and the new UNICEF branch established here last semester. Others donate their time in local schools, and some truly commendable people have taken trips to places like New Orleans on their own missions of benevolence. And this is only a very partial list of the philanthropic activities taking place here.

Yet we have so much potential that remains untapped. There are also plenty of students here who really are too busy to head off to New Orleans or give their time in some other way. But they do have money. If everyone at Vassar gave $10 a week to some responsible charity, that would add up to $24,000 per week, $96,000 per month, and…well, you get the picture. No, it won’t move mountains, but it is a start. Lifting some people out of poverty will enable them to help others, causing a positive snowball effect. Like the metaphorical person walking along and seeing thousands and thousands of drowning children, each in their own pool of water, we can’t help everyone.

But we can help somebody.

We don’t all have time, but most of us do have money. A familiar refrain around here is “I’m a poor college student with no money.” And to that, I will answer with two words: nice iPod. I could continue, and ask how much this campus spends every week on alcohol, but the point has been made.

I will also personally be following my own advice and setting aside weekly money for philanthropy. It isn’t much, and I don’t claim it is, but it’s a start.

I invite my readers—especially those not yet involved in other charities—to join me in this. Since my list of charitable organizations has only touched the tip of the iceberg, I invite you to post information and links or information about other organizations in the comments section under this article when it appears online.