Ask me what the great philanthropists of our era should do for the betterment of humankind, and I will offer a two-word response. My response is as clear as it is concise. It speaks to the urgency of the times and underscores the priceless nature of time. It transcends matters of race, color, gender, religion or creed, because it is universal to every man, woman and child. It addresses what we can do – what we must do – as an issue of morality and as a means of maintaining our collective morale.
Here is my answer: Save lives.
Save lives by promoting life support training at home and abroad. Save lives by highlighting the work of the Disque Foundation, whose mission is to enable others to provide advanced healthcare education to underserved populations in the United States and elsewhere.
Support the foundation’s Save a Life Initiative, which offers the world’s first free life support training courses online. Help the foundation reach its goal to empower a million people with the ability to save a life by 2020.
This ambition is neither excessive nor in any way extravagant, because it is not hard to teach these skills to individuals throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. It is not hard to teach this language, so to speak, when the words are more visual than verbal; when the argot is more acute than ambiguous; when the demonstration is more intelligible than indecipherable; when convey this tutorial is the ultimate form of communication.
Rather than devote their efforts – and their money – to lofty ideals, which help the limited few, philanthropists should dedicate themselves to practical initiatives, which have unlimited benefits for the world’s many villagers, townspeople and citizens of our largest cities.
Rather than thinking about how to save a life, we should all learn how to save one. We should do this, not only because it is right, but also because it can right so many wrongs that ensue from inaction and ignorance.
The Disque Foundation is at the forefront of this movement.
With the conviction it expresses, and the trust it enjoys from people worldwide, this foundation shows us what positive change looks like.
Let us learn to save lives.