World Champion Emily Jackson hits the rapids.
Dan and Silver Valovich
Emily Jackson has never been your average athlete. For starters, she's a women in a sport dominated by men who fought her way to the top at a young age. By 15 years old she had already donated her first winnings, $5,000 to Soft Power Health and Soft Power Education to help bring health services and educational services to small villages in Uganda. It became clear to her that the changes made with her small winnings were far more worthwhile than the excessive pairs of designer shoes that she could have purchased instead. And thus this young philanthropist got her start. And today the world champion kayaker has raised $25,000 to date for Soft Power Health and she's still going strong.
Soft Power Health is an organization started by a fellow kayaker and friend Dr. Jessie Stone. Soft Power Health's Uganda Project builds and supports rural and primary health facilities, especially with regards to malaria, a disease who's catastrophic devastation is mind boggling. The epidemic affects 350 to 500 million people worldwide each year (killing over one million people per year). What's even more devastating is that it's preventable. According to Soft Power Health, sleeping under a long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito net (LLIN) can reduce the incidence of malaria by up to 90 percent. One LLIN can prevent 2 or more children from getting bitten for five years.
Get Involved With Solf Power Health Emily Jackson is using Changents.com, a social networking platform dedicated to helping philanthropists of all kinds make a positive impact by raising awareness for their social and environmental projects. You can donate money through the site or you can volunteer with the Changents network. You can also volunteer and donate directly to the Soft Power Health site. Volunteers should be aware that this ain't luxury. Uganda is a tropical climate, where rain alternates with hot sun, so expect to be hot, dirty, muddy, and wet, Soft Power Health warns. But when you look at the direct impact, if you're willing to get dirty, it's worth jumping on in.
