This is truly the day when every person can make a difference!  Even though the actions we take may be small the results can be amazing.  We can see children who have suffered horrible loss recover smiles and learn to hope again.  But we need your help!

“So what can I do?”  Thought you would never ask!  Each of these will only take from one or two clicks of a mouse to a couple of minutes to do – so easy that you could do a little every day.

1.  RT on Twitter

The most efficient way to do this is to set up a saved search for the hashtag #opsafe.  There is a little green plus on the right that you can click to “Save this search”. It will then show up as a “Saved Search” in the right hand column on Twitter. Twitter does not allow duplicate tweets from the same person, so when you retweet the #opsafe tweets you help us spread the message farther than we can ourselves.  You can also RT at times when we are not online (yes, I do sleep!) and get to know others who are helping as well.
Bonus tip – You can also of course retweet this post right now by clicking on the button to the right.

2.  Join the Opsafe Twitter Team

Lots of people doing small actions can accomplish great things, but the effect is much greater if there is teamwork! We are recruiting a group of people on Twitter who want to participate in the team effort to help trauma children. By signing up, your name is added to the list of people we know who want to help.  We will let you know when there are new events happening, team efforts that you can be a part of and the latest blog posts.  You also become part of a great group of people who all have a common interest in helping children with trauma.

3. Start a Charity List on Twitter

Lists are a great way to quickly see what is going on in a specific topic on twitter. But they also are a great way to refer others to organizations that you think are doing important work. The more lists that we appear on, the more awareness we gain for our cause. To start a list, just click on “New List” on your twitter homepage. Give it a title like, “Charities I Believe In” and add your favorite charities on twitter, starting with @OperationSAFE. Not only does this help us, but it also helps every other charity that you list.

4. Share Our Website with Friends.

We are working hard to put up great content both on the blog and in the pages here with news of missions to help trauma children around the world, help for those caring for children and doing compassionate work, and tips for non-profits beginning to use social media to further their cause. An easy way to share our posts with friends is to use the Facebook “Like” button on each page, the Twitter “Tweet” button, or an even better way is to share the link on your Facebook profile or blog and add your personal comments to make it even more engaging.

5. “Like” What We are Doing? Show Your Support on Facebook

Facebook is huge and continues to grow. OperationSAFE has a profile page there and updates it often with pictures and news. We try to share more personal stories and this is often where updates from the field will be posted first.  Your support helps introduce your friends to OperationSAFE and shows them what your are passionate about.

6.  Join OperationSAFE on Causes

Causes is a very cool Facebook app that leverages the power of the platform for doing charity work. It is like having a coach in raising awareness and funds and recruiting new people to the cause.  What makes it special is that it is not just a coach for the non-profit, but for the people like you who want to help the cause.

7. Include @operationsafe in Your #FF and #charityTuesday Tweets on Twitter

Ok, back to Twitter! The hashtag # is a powerful tool on Twitter not just for tracking #opsafe tweets but also because certain social customs have grown up on Twitter around the #FF, #FollowFriday tags and other days such as #charityTuesday. The idea is that you introduce your followers to people and organizations that you like. It works best if you give a reason, rather than just a list of names. Something like “#FF @operationsafe – making a difference for trauma children around the world.” would be nice, but I am sure that you can do even better.

8. Subscribe to our YouTube channel

One of the most exciting things that we are doing is producing an animated version of “Pete’s Adventure” We are posting updates and trailers as well as pictures and video of our work with children around the world.

9. Follow Everyone Else who Tweets the #opsafe Tag

An easy way to do this is to follow the entire Opsafe Twitter Team List but as you help us tweet you will see new faces helping us out every day. Be sure to follow them, introduce yourself, and find out who they are. After all social media is social! You will find lots of great people who are talking about much more than just OperationSAFE.

10. Give a Donation to Help Children.

We are still very small and new – Pete’s first adventure in Sichuan was in 2008. But we have tried to make it as easy as possible for you to donate in a secure and accountable way online through firstgiving.com. We don’t send out paper mailings, or pay firms to fundraise for us. In fact we partner with ngo’s that are already established to make each dollar you give stretch farther than we could ever do on our own. To invest in the health of children please donate today.