For $21, you can make a difference in a woman’s life this Mother’s Day. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), a global humanitarian aid, relief, and development nongovernmental organization, which was founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, provides emergency assistance and long-term support to refugees and those displaced by war, persecution, or natural disaster.
The organization will send your chosen recipient a personalized card for Mother’s Day. You can either send a printed card, which will be delivered in approximately 15 days, or an email card that will be delivered immediately or can be scheduled for delivery at any time. The card will include information about the IRC and the benefits afforded by the $21 rescue gift.
Among the women that will be helped by this gift are many mothers in Zimbabwe that give birth at home, which is a risk to them and their babies. The gift will ensure they have access to a clinic and will provide clothing, baby soap, diapers, and other necessities. The baby kits ensure more mothers will have a safe delivery and healthy start for their newborns.
Currently, the IRC is focused on Zimbabwe in the wake of the disastrous Cyclone Idai; the rise of the second worst Ebola outbreak ever, in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and the challenges Central American asylum-seekers face at the American border. The organization allows you to give a selfless symbolic gift to a loved one while at the same time helping women in need.
Among the organization’s supporters is Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Street, who says, "The IRC has served the world for generations. I am a proud supporter of this splendid, hardworking, efficient, beautiful organization—and I hope that you will join me."
According to Tatenda Gonye, IRC, Maternal Health Coordinator, Zimbabwe, giving birth in the southern African country is very high risk. An estimated 1 in 34 children dies during childbirth and 1 in 18 dies between childbirth and their first year. In addition, 3,000 women die in childbirth each year. Often women give birth at home because they are too embarrassed to go to a medical center since they are too poor to even afford baby clothes.
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“For $21, a Baby Kit changes this. It gives mothers the bare essentials to help care for her baby including cotton wool, baby soap, Vaseline, towels, a fleece set (jacket, trousers, and booties), diapers, and vests,” Gonye says.
What better way to honor mothers on Mother’s Day than by enabling others to know the joys of motherhood without fear or need. Visit rescuegifts.org to send a symbolic gift this Mother's Day.