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    Categories: OpinionUS

The Gulf Oil Spill, And What We Can Do To Help

Isn’t social media a beautiful thing?

As of right now, there have been 361 unique visitors to my site with a total of 459 hits since I posted my first blog. That is 361 more people listening to me today that weren’t listening to me two days ago, so in my eyes, I’ve already succeeded in doing what I hoped for. I don’t need millions of viewers a day like Perez Hilton to feel that I’ve accomplished something. Like I said before, I’m just a normal girl from Long Island, who never imagined I’d be able to spread my thoughts and ideas to such a mass amount of people. 

So I want to say THANK YOU to EVERYONE who took time out of your day to read my blog, and even pass it along to others. It really shows the power behind social media and how we are all in this together. It makes us ALL one big team. The bigger a team gets, the bigger chance we have at winning and making a difference! We can do this!

Now for some final numbers…

The telethon wound up raising a total of 1.81 million dollars. There were 600,000 viewers that tuned in between 8 and 10pm EST. This is 40% less than the viewership for Hope For Haiti. This year so far, Larry King has an average of 700,000 viewers per show.

If you look at the gulf telethon alone, you would probably call it a big success. But when you compare it against Hope for Haiti, is it still a success? I don’t have an answer for you, but I will say this: I am very confident that the 1.81 million dollars has already made its way to the hands of the three organizations the telethon was benefiting. And like the readers of my blog, that is 1.81 million dollars more than they had 2 days ago. 

After reading all your responses and feedback, I know you all want to help. It is in our nature as humans to care and to reach our hand out to those in need. I know a lot of people struggle financially, and someone even brought it to my attention that they have no extra money to donate. We can all feel powerless in our own ways, but that can’t stop us from trying. I know the economy sucks, trust me, and sometimes we are left searching for pennies underneath our couch. That’s why we turn to social media. It is a great first step. Twitter is one of the most powerful websites on the internet right now. With the click of a button, you can tell the whole world what is on your mind in 140 characters or less. You should start using that to your advantage and spread the word! 

Listen carefully… YOU DON’T NEED TO DONATE MONEY YOU DON’T HAVE TO HELP THE CAUSE!

Our voice is our most valuable and POWERFUL asset. Without it, we are nothing. America has given us the power of speech, and we can use that to help the gulf. We can sit around and complain about the government and what could have been done to prevent the oil spill, but that won’t be getting us anywhere. We need to become productive and be ready for tomorrow instead of complaining about yesterday. 

Someone on twitter told me he had just come back from a mission trip in Alabama where he met a man who just had to send his daughter to live with her grandmother. Because he is unable to finish anymore, he can’t afford to take care of his own daughter. How devastating is that? I don’t know about you, but I can’t sit back and hear stories like that without getting pissed off.

361 people read my last blog. We are 361 people strong. Lets start by moving forward and getting LOUD. The louder we are, the better chance we will be heard. We don’t need to be rich to be powerful, we just have to make a ruckus! Lets go people! Call your state offices, sign petitions, use Facebook and TWEET, TWEET, TWEET!

Text "WILDLIFE" to 20222 to donate $10 to the National Wildlife Federation who are helping the wildlife in the Gulf.

Text "COAST" to 50555 to donate $10 to The Nature Conservancy providing long term recovery for the habitats of the Gulf.

Text "UNITED" to 50555 to donate $10 to United Way, who are providing emergency assistance to the people of the Gulf.

Now I want YOU to tell ME your ideas on what we can do to make a difference! Start brainstorming, I can’t wait to read what you all have to say!

xoxo
Riss

Original article on http://rissalla.blogspot.com 

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