During my January 2010 trip to Haiti, one of my biggest frustrations regarding relief efforts was how long the process took for the public’s donations to reach the impacted area. Text-to-give, a donation tool popularized following the Haiti earthquake, accumulated millions in donations, but typically took six weeks or more to reach those in need.

The same potential persists with donations given toward Japan’s disaster relief. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Yes, we can help change the situation.

My friends at Change.org have a petition designed to help speed up this process. Don’t make those in Japan wait weeks or months for your donation to reach them. Take one minute (a bit more if it’s your first time at Change.org) and help change the world.

It’s the least we can do.

Here’s the link.

Letter text from Change.org:

Remove the wait time on donations to Japan

Greetings,

The twin disasters of the earthquake and tsunami that
pummeled the eastern coast of Japan have been incomprehensible in their
scale, and deserve our best efforts to help the millions of people
affected recover.

The scale of this tragedy will stretch international recovery
efforts to their limits, and any additional resources that are
contributed should be put to use as soon as possible.

Currently, there is a wait time of up to 90 days for mobile
donations to reach those in need in Japan. This is unacceptable. Tens
of thousands of people still need to be rescued and even more require
aid and support. By signing on to this petition, you will be helping to
have money remitted to those in need as soon as possible.

Thank you,

[your name]

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DILLON
BURROUGHS is an author, activist, and co-founder of Activist Faith.
Dillon served in Haiti following the epic 2010 earthquake and has
investigated modern slavery in the US and internationally. His books
include Undefending Christianity, Not in My Town (with Charles J.
Powell), and Thirst No More (October). Discover more at ActivistFaith.org