Dear Friends,
We're thrilled to share that our Watsi community showed up in ways bigger than we could've imagined for #GivingTuesday. Together we raised enough funds to support life-changing healthcare for 179 patients. Each of these patients and their families are now on a journey to leading healthier, fuller lives!
In case you're interested, I'd love to share a bit more about how the week unfolded behind the scenes for us here at Watsi.
On Monday, I thought perhaps Watsi should set a goal to reach 20 patients during our #GivingTuesday campaign (last year we funded treatment for 14 patients). Honestly, I was skeptical about participating at all. This global day of giving has started to feel a bit like the non-profit cousin of hyper-consumerism holidays. It's been such a hard moment for so many, people have given so much of themselves this year, and our inboxes were already full of SALESALESALE 50% OFF!!! But, then I received a video from our local medical partner of Watsi patients in Tanzania and knew that it was at least worth a try so that we could do more to help them.
On Tuesday around noon, I saw that together we had reached 19 patients. I hesitantly wondered if we could reach 19 more. At 9:37pm I was starting a tweet celebrating our community and that we just reached our 80th(!) patient for the day—sweet baby Sorma in Cambodia who needed surgery to have use of her hand after a severe burn. That's when I noticed a donation of $187 come in that was declined by the credit card company. I kept glued to our donation Slack channel to see if they would re-try. And in came $187, they had updated their credit card, whew! Then they donated $51 to another patient, then $382 to another, then $236 to another. I was so happy—what an amazing day it turned out to be.
Suddenly at 9:55pm, this same supporter donated for a VERY generous Watsi gift card and goes on to use it to fund a new patient every minute for the next hour. Another 12 people around the world chip in before midnight and somehow, miraculously, we end the day reaching 179 patients whose lives are now forever changed.
The global community we've built and the gifts we give the world through Watsi are remarkably beautiful. On #GivingTuesday and all year round, thank you for all each of you do to make changing lives possible. We couldn't be prouder to be on this journey with you.
With gratitude,
Mackinnon Engen, Executive Director
P.S. One of the best ways you can support Watsi in 2021 to ensure we deepen our impact for patients in need is to join our Universal Fund, giving the gift of health to a different patient every month.
Mackinnon Engen
Executive Director @Watsi