Don't Stop Buying Those T-Shirts

As much as I wanted to love every part of this article, there was one point that I do not fully agree with. That point would be:

“We make clear, actionable goals in which people can take action and change the situation for children. We also want people to wrestle with these stories and find ways they can take action. We don’t want to spoon-feed people or say, ‘Buy a T-shirt and you’ve done your part.’ True change can take decades, but nothing engages people like a story.”

Although I fully believe that making change is great and noble, not everyone can or wants to “take a missions trip to Africa”. And to say that “we don’t want people to buy a shirt” is the wrong approach, that is criticizing the whole point of supporting a movement. The money that would be spent for those shirts help the groups and organizations raise funds to go out and help those people in need. Sales of shirts and other memorabilia allow funds to be raised so that crews and groups can go out and help a country in need. Everyone has a part to play in this process. Not everyone wants to be on the frontline, going abroad and helping directly. Some find their way of helping through donations and purchasing of materials. I can relate this to why people donate to our armed services and even purchase clothing from these branches of the military. They want to support them. They have no intentions of going into battle, but they want to help in a way that fits them best. I applaud those who directly help with issues in other countries, but some find it best to support so indirectly. I myself would prefer to do so directly because it allows me to experience first hand the hardships and struggles of ones other than myself. Through this, it allows me to make a great change. In the end, all types of help are beneficial.