Six million people die unnecessarily every year

We make a living by what we get, Churchill said, but we make a life by what we give. And to save a life?

We Americans like to see ourselves as a generous people, but the rest of the world sees us differently. Among advanced countries, the U.S. ranks last in foreign aid development giving as a percentage of national income.

The distinctive generosity of Americans is more private than public, countless gifts of time and money—but 98% of that money stays here at home, in part because donors could never be sure whether their money would actually land where it was needed and be used well once it got there.

You can't stop an earthquake; but you can stop malaria, if you just spend the money to do it. And malaria kills more than 80,000 every month. Five dollars buys a mosquito net to guard a sleeping child.

Or maybe instead of buying Aunt Margaret a sweater, buy a goat in her name from Heifer International to give a hungry family milk every day.

[Excerpt of a TIME article by Nancy Gibbs]