A personal message and a challenge from the publishers...

The Continuity e-GUIDE is devoted to disaster preparedness, response and recovery on a corporate or community level. Our readers are expected to see vulnerabilities and needs, and then to act. To do something about those vulnerabilities. To help. To be "make it happen" people--energetic individuals who take difficult situations and make them better. And a significant factor in our success is our ability to persuade others in our organizations to see those same vulnerabilities and to act now. To wait could multiply the long term costs dramatically!

The easiest thing in the world is to see, but not act.  There are always reasons to not act.

There isn't enough time.
Not enough money.
Indecision: we're not certain which solution is best.
We don't have enough experience; someone else can do a better job.
Or the problem is so big, and we can't solve it completely.

When we leave work, through CNN or Fox we see around the world in a heartbeat. Perhaps we are able to see so much, we're on overload, maxed out. We might see a heartbreaking story of suffering half-way around the world, or across town. The magnitude of what we see, the challenges in our world, are so great and we are so small. And before what we see sinks in, before we can stop and act... we're on to the next story, the next breaking news. Has the speed of seeing reached a level where it's difficult to stop, to feel, to act?

Many of us in the BCP and EM world have been blessed with a good life--with much more than we really need. None of us can handle all the problems we see. But all of us can make a difference in some of those problems. What would happen if our 20,000 readers made room for one more during the coming 365 days? Our conviction is expressed best by the verse, "To whom much has been given, much is required." The requirement is to see and to act.

In this holiday season there is always talk about compassion. But compassion isn't just feeling someone's pain. Webster's definition of compassion has two parts: "Sympathetic consciousness of others' distress [see] together with a desire to alleviate it [act!]." (The emphasis and inserts are ours.)

The story of one Los Angeles man who stopped to see and then chose to act says it very well. Eric Haymes inspires us to believe that we, too, can make a difference! The successful professional saw his cable installer's disfigured face, but didn't walk away from what he saw. Their unlikely friendship bridges a diverse city's separate worlds. Eric made room for one more. Their story isn't finished, because making room for one more means committing for the long haul. And while Eric thought he would just be helping one man in need, his story, by inspiring LA Times readers and KTLA viewers to act, may help thousands!

The Challenge
Do you have room for one more?

An elderly person who is "shut-in"
A prisoner facing prospects that most of us cannot even imagine
Someone out of work
A handicapped individual
A family with a terminally ill child
A child in need of adoption or foster care

Next year at this time we will publish the stories of our readers who have taken on this challenge. We are personally asking where we can make room for one more. Just think of the way the world would change if there were a groundswell of people who opened up their lives to make room for one more-not a one-time gift or a short-term project, but a heart that says: "I'll be there for you. I'll be your advocate. I see your needs, and I want to act, to help you move through the hurdles of life." Victor Hugo, author of the classic book Les Miserables, which was also made into the Broadway musical, said days before he died in 1885, "To love is to act."

Is there someone out there who needs you?

If you make room for one more, will you let us know? We'd like to publish your story in next year's special issue.

Thanks for reading our Continuity e-GUIDE! We look forward to joining you again on Wednesday, January 5.

Tommy and Kathy Rainey
Publishers
Continuity e-GUIDE
Disaster Resource GUIDE
Santa Ana, CA

The complete story of Eric Haymes and his cable installer, Nelson Castillo, can be read at the following link:

http://ktla.trb.com/news/local/la-me-face19dec19,0,2223430.story?coll=ktla-newslocal-1

There are many outstanding outreach programs. We spotlight a few of these organizations. Perhaps learning about them will lead you to participate in some way.

Habitat for Humanity
www.habitat.org
Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit international housing organization. Since 1976, Habitat has built more than 150,000 houses in more than 89 countries, including some 50,000 houses across the United States.

Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption
www.davethomasfoundationforadoption.org/
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is a non-profit public charity dedicated to increasing the adoptions of the more than 150,000 children in North America’s foster care system. Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy’s International, created the Foundation in 1992 in support of the vision that every child deserves a permanent home and a loving family. The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption focuses on increasing adoption awareness while supporting model adoption service programs.

ApproTec
www.approtec.org/about.shtml
ApproTEC’s mission is to promote sustainable economic growth and create employments in Kenya and other countries by developing and promoting technologies that can be used to establish and run profitable, small scale enterprises. ApproTEC believes that self-motivated private entrepreneurs managing small-scale enterprises are the most effective agents for developing emergent economies.

World Vision
www.worldvision.org
Founded in 1950, World Vision is a relief and development organization, serving the world's poorest children and families in nearly 100 countries.

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
www.ifrc.org
The Federation's mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity. Vulnerable people are those who are at greatest risk from situations that threaten their survival, or their capacity to live with an acceptable level of social and economic security and human dignity. Often, these are victims of natural disasters, poverty brought about by socio-economic crises, refugees, and victims of health emergencies.

Big Brothers Big Sisters
www.bbbsi.org and www.bbbsa.org
All over the world there are vulnerable children who may not be able to reach their full potential in growing up - refugees throughout Europe, street children in South America, young victims of HIV/AIDS in Africa, social orphans in Russia, children growing up in poverty around the world - children and youth who lack opportunities to go beyond their daily struggle for survival to experience positive youth development. A volunteer Big Brother or Big Sister helps a young person have a better sense of self and a positive view of the future. A mentoring relationship empowers both young people and adults to be active in their community - creating possibilities for both the Littles and the Bigs.

National Mentoring Partnership
www.mentoring.org/
For more than a decade, MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership has been leading the effort to connect America's young people with caring adult mentors. Today, approximately 35.2 million children, ages 10 to 18, live in the United States. Of that number, about half - or 17.6 million - could benefit greatly from a high-quality formal mentoring relationship with a caring adult. Many face especially difficult circumstances: 1 out of 4 lives with only one parent; 1 out of 10 is born to teen parents; 1 out of 5 lives in poverty; and 1 out of 10 will not finish high school.

Currently, it is believed that, of the 17.6 million young people who need mentors, approximately 2.5 million are in formal, high-quality mentoring relationships. That means more than 15 million young people still need mentors. That unmet need constitutes what we call the "mentoring gap." MENTOR works to close this gap.

Prison Fellowship International
www.pfm.org
Angel Tree® – The Angel Tree® Program is a special outreach to the children of prisoners at Christmas. In addition to the Christmas project, Angel Tree is in the process of providing camps, retreats, and a variety of year-round events and support services designed to keep the children of prisoners from becoming involved in a life of crime

Share Our Strength
www.strength.org
Share Our Strength, one of the nation's leading anti-hunger, anti-poverty organizations, began in the basement of a row house on Capitol Hill in 1984. In the beginning, they organized a handful of chefs to cook for fundraisers. Today they mobilize thousands of individuals in the culinary industry to organize events, host dinners, teach cooking and nutrition classes to low-income families and serve as anti-hunger advocates.

They have a simple but powerful philosophy: It takes more than food to fight hunger. Share Our Strength believes it takes both short- and long-term solutions, such as food assistance, job training, economic development programs and advocacy, to have a lasting impact. They also believe it takes each one of us, sharing our strength, to make a difference.


a Weekly Publication of Disaster Resource GUIDE.

Based on the philosophy of "working together", the weekly Continuity e-GUIDE provides a concise seven-day snapshot of the business continuity and emergency management industry from around the world right down to the local level.

    Article idea? Contact the Editor, Alison Dunn at alison.dunn@disaster-resource.com.
    Want to sponsor a weekly update? Contact Tommy Rainey at tommyr@disaster-resource.com.

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