November is Men’s Health Awareness Month and the Comments for a Cause for the month was designated to go to my oldest son’s efforts to raise money for Movember Foundation US.  Micah’s goal was to grow an amazing mustache that rivaled Tom Selleck’s and I think he came pretty close, what do you think?

I am thrilled to be able to report that because of YOU we will be donating $210 to Micah’s November efforts.  If you would like to make a small donation of  your own please click here to take you to his fundraising page.  He would be eternally grateful as would I.

This coming month I am going to share the charity that my own family is donating to for their Christmas Charity.  Every year for many years we have selected a charity to donate money to instead of exchanging presents.  It has worked like a charm and even though I drug my feet initially (because I love to shop for the perfect gift) it has put a lot more meaning into our Christmas exchange simply because instead of giving or getting one more sweater we are actually donating to causes that can use our help.  

The family has decided to donate to Doctors Without Borders this year because of their tireless efforts and especially during this year when Ebola was a huge issue that many doctors selflessly committed to fighting—risking their own lives in the process. This group has many facets to it–covers a lot of area both geographically and provides many services that you can read more about by clicking here to go directly to their website.  What impressed me the most is their response to the Ebola outbreak.  The following excerpt taken from their website provides a few more details.

MSF’s West Africa Ebola response started in March 2014 and counts activities in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. In response to a confirmed case in Mali, an MSF team arrived in the country this week to reinforce MSF’s regular mission and provide technical support to the Ministry of Health.

MSF currently employs 263 international and around 3,084 locally hired staff in the region. The organization operates six Ebola case management centers (CMCs), providing approximately 600 beds in isolation. Since the beginning of the outbreak, MSF has sent more than 700 international staff to the region and admitted more than 5,200 patients, among whom around 3,200 were confirmed as having Ebola. More than 1,200 patients have survived.

More than 1,019 tonnes of supplies have been shipped to the affected countries since March.

The provisional 2014 budget for MSF’s Ebola response in West Africa is €51 million. MSF will continue its operational response in 2015, and is currently estimating operational budgets beyond 2014. So far, MSF has approved institutional funding for a value of €20M and have raised some €28M in private funds.

This month my Comments for a Cause donation will go directly to Doctors Without Borders to help aid them in their tireless work in places where their help is so sorely needed.  If you would like to make a donation of your own it is easily done on their website.  Chris and I will make a donation at the end of December based on your comments.  For each comment made on It’s Just Life during December we will donate 50 cents to the cause.  Comment often because you know I love to read what you have to say.