Written by Robert Pisani and Amy Xuereb

In a world where our lives have come to a halt due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a spotlight is shone onto those who have kept on going selflessly, even in these trying times. Without a doubt, a big round of applause goes to all the frontliners who are doing their utmost to keep us safe.

Additionally, there are several other entities that strive endlessly for the best of each and every country. Below are some of the various organisations that are helping during this pandemic and to whom we can also donate to or volunteer with.

If you are feeling rather helpless in this situation, and want to lend a helping hand, the entities below as well as several others, will more than benefit from a donation.

Caritas Malta

This foundation aims to provide assistance to poor and vulnerable individuals. A loss or reduction in income during the pandemic may further aggravate poverty, leading to an inability to purchase food and/or maintain accommodation. This foundation provides shelters and temporary housing for the homeless, as well as assisting individuals with halting substance abuse. Moreover, it provides support for individuals who have no family or those who suffer from psychological conditions. This is especially relevant during this period, since isolation may be heightened due to the pandemic. Donating can be done directly through their website and is always welcome, to assist as many individuals as possible.

Foodbank Lifeline Foundation

The Foodbank Lifeline Foundation was founded with the purpose of providing food items to individuals struggling to find the money for food. Currently, the local foundation supports an average of 80 families per week. Food costs may be in the excess of €4000 each week; therefore additional assistance in the form of food donations is always welcome. A referral to this foundation is required in order to receive this service and may include individuals such as oncology patients or the elderly. This is especially relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic, where isolated individuals or those with a reduced income may benefit from such services. The foundation aims to continue providing this service with a wider scope, in order to assist as many individuals as possible. Donating can be done directly through their site.

Hospice Malta

Despite the circumstances, the hospice team is continuously assessing and giving advice to terminally ill patients as well as their relatives through constant communication. Professionals aiding in this include nurses, doctors, physiotherapists, psychologists, social workers, and complementary therapists. Additionally, the Hospice Facebook page has also put up some videos including physiotherapy exercise sessions as well as “Do it Yourself at Home Sessions”. Donations for Hospice Malta can be done in several ways, click here for more guidance.

Invisible Hands

A group of 265 young volunteers helping both the elderly and those in need during this crisis. Be it their groceries, medicines, food, and any other necessity, the aim of “Invisible Hands” is to keep the vulnerable at home. One simply needs to fill out a form including locality as well as contact number. Such a great initiative – Well done! Click here to become a volunteer.

Karl Vella Foundation (KVF)

Children in families disrupted by disease may become emotionally distressed, and is a frequently overlooked issue, with the acute management of a disease typically given more significance. During the COVID-19 pandemic, other illnesses such as cancer and organ failure are still present, with numerous families dealing with such illness during this period. Therefore, children may experience psychological distress, due to a combination of both isolation and witnessing family members affected with the illness.

The KVF offers psychological counseling for children between the ages of five to seventeen years when a family member is undergoing treatment for a disease or is hospitalised. Several professionals work with the affected children, such as teachers and psychologists, in order to assist the child and reduce anxiety. Details for donating to the KVF may be found on their website and performed either through mobile messaging or bank transfer.

Refugee Services

Like many others, refugees and migrants have been hard hit by the economic fallout of the pandemic, meaning that those who were already struggling to survive have to deal with a further blow. The Jesuit Refugee Service in Malta is doing all it can to safeguard immigrants by fighting for their rights, supporting them financially, helping with medications, accommodation costs, necessities, and so on.

In these trying times, these services particularly shine. Thanks to them, people of all backgrounds and attitudes can mix together in an unrestricted meeting-place, and find providence such as shelter and hospitality. For more information on how to donate, you can simply click here.

Smiling with Jerome

A foundation so close to many. Their work is admirable, having a mission to provide support and assistance to those passing through difficult times, especially those diagnosed with cancer. They are currently also working hard for a young adult ward at Sir Anthony Mamo oncology centre as well as delivering chemo bags of hope to cancer patients, amongst so many other initiatives.

If you would like to end your day positively,  knowing that you have done a good deed, feel free to donate, volunteer, sponsor, or either pledge this foundation.

The Malta Trust Foundation

This foundation was established to support disadvantaged young people, aiming for a brighter future through empowerment and psychosocial initiatives. It has successfully donated around 20,000 masks to the government; general practitioners; and non-governmental organisations, in order to aid curb the spread of this pandemic. These masks are a mix of surgical and KF94 masks that can filter out 94% of particulate matter, providing protection against droplets.

 St Jeanne Antide Foundation (SJAF)

This foundation is a social purpose non-governmental organisation. Practitioners and volunteers at the Foundation work hand-in-hand to support very vulnerable individuals and families who are suffering due to very difficult life circumstances and those who are sliding into poverty and are socially excluded. The range of services offered to vulnerable families are free of charge. In order to make a donation, click here.

World Health Organisation (WHO)

The WHO is a global initiative that aims to implement the most recent practices and policies; primarily done through research and reporting. This, therefore, allows healthcare facilities worldwide to access and maintain a high standard of practice. The organization focuses on both non-communicable diseases, such as cancer and communicable diseases, such as influenza and COVID-19.

As such, the WHO is integral in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic. This organisation performs and gathers research into SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19. This most importantly involves determining appropriate drug therapies and management of complications. In addition, it provides global situation reports as well as updates for the public and healthcare professionals. Therefore, monetary donations are essential for continuing this initiative, especially during this period. Individuals can donate through the WHO website directly, with donations accepted from anywhere in the world.

Other foundations

• Blood Bank
• Lend a Hand
• Mission Fund
• Malta Society for the Protection and Care of Animals
• Puttinu Cares
• Id-Dar tal-Providenza
• Peace Lab
• Malta Red Cross
• Victory Kitchen
• Richmond Foundation

In conclusion, several local and foreign organisations play a key role both in the immediate management of the pandemic and following its resolution. Donating to such organisations in any capacity may aid their day-to-day running, as well as extend their capacity to assist individuals.

cover image: source

The post Donating during the COVID-19 pandemic | MHSA appeared first on The Third Eye.

Fast fashion describes trendy clothing that is quickly coming in and out of style. Just go into your closet and check the labels on your clothing, chances are that most of your clothing is from fashion brands. So how did we get caught inside this fast-fashion trap?

The hard truth

80% of garment workers are women between 18-35 who have no access to maternity leave. These workers are forced to work between 14 to 16 hours, 7 days a week under poor working conditions. In Bangladesh, sweatshop workers will earn $30 per month which is way below the living of $60 a month. Since 1990, due to hazardous working conditions, more than 400 workers died and thousands have been wounded in 50 factory fires.

Whilst there is a high demand from consumers for high fashion at a low cost, fashion retailers produce this demand by selling a ton of profitable clothes. Having said that, here are the 3 truths that the fashion industry doesn’t want you to know

1. The fashion industry makes you feel “out of trend” after one week.

Instead of replenishing their stock, they replace the items that sell out with new items of a different style, making our one-week-old clothes feel older than they truly are. With new trends coming out every week, this makes us consumers buy as many garments as possible, just for the sake of being trendy.

2. There are lead and hazardous chemicals on your clothing.

Garment production and unregulated factories have resulted in toxic chemicals often used to create vibrant colours, prints, and fabric finishes. Not only is this harmful to the workers that have to deal with these chemicals, but these chemicals can also enter our bodies through our skin just by wearing the garments. Harmful toxins are dunked into streams and rivers, polluting the water and soil of nearby areas.

3. Clothing is designed to fall apart.

At the end of the day, fashion retailers only care about the profit from the ocean of garments they are producing.  Over half of all the clothing ends up in incinerators or landfills within a year of production. 5% of all landfill space is textile waste. Brands also choose to incinerate their old stock than donate it because they claim it “ruins their image.”

Fashion as the second-largest polluting industry

• 1 garbage truck of clothes is burned or landfilled every second.
• Making a pair of jeans produces as many greenhouses gases as driving a car for nearly 70 miles.
• Each year 1.3 trillion gallons of water are used in the fabric dying process.
• A third of plastic pollution in the ocean is due to the microfibers from synthetic clothing.

 A victim of fast-fashion? Here is what you can do!

Sewing

Whilst this might seem silly to most of you, producing your actual clothes is the main course of action to prevent from falling into the fast-fashion trap. You are also more likely to love it and wear it for longer.

Purchasing from independents sellers/thrift shops/second-hand clothing!

Support small businesses that carefully handcraft their work. Apps like Depop and Etsy are two apps that are working against fast-fashion. Through Depop, one can sell and even purchase second-hand items from individuals all around the globe. Recently, numerous Maltese influencers have been setting up their own Depop account to encourage this movement. Etsy focuses on handmade or vintage items and craft supplies. One can find various items such as clothing, toys, home décor, etc.

Donating

It is that time of year again where the shift from summer to winter clothes leaves us wondering why you even bought certain pieces of clothing. And if this isn’t an annual thing for you, then I suggest you do it anyway as you can now earn some extra cash for decluttering your wardrobe!

This year, during EWWR, S-Cubed will be organising a thrift shop at quad between the 28^th of November till the 2^nd of December. You can either be their customer or lend a helping hand by donating your unwanted clothing for them to sell.

The money owed to the applicant will be given some time after the event, either by Revolut or cash, depending on the applicant’s preference. If an item is not sold, it will be returned to the applicant with the presentation of their ID Card. The price of the garment will have a small margin added to it at sale that will go to a charity related to the cause.

With thrift-shopping, you aren’t just saving your pocket money but you are also saving the environment.

It is time to end the stigma of thrifted clothes!

The post Caught in the knot of fast-fashion | the benefits of thrifting appeared first on The Third Eye.

My hair is very important to me but I’m willing to shave it because by giving it away for wig-making I’m boosting the hope of cancer patients receiving chemo while I’m also being in solidarity through experiencing cancer’s social impacts. My hair will be sent to the Malta Community Chest Fund for a Maltese chemo patient.

The World’s Greatest Shave is an event held by Australian Leukaemia Foundation for the past 20 years which encourages people to shave or cut their hair in order to give emotional and physical (with the help of human hair wigs) strength to cancer patients. The main scope of the event though is not to shave one’s hair, but it lies in the donations given by people which in the end help families and cancer patients while also aiding research!

As of posting this article, Oriana’s donation page is just shy of $1,120 meaning that only $80 (~ € 50) are left. Help Oriana and cancer patients by donating HERE and following her progress till the 16th March!

The post How twenty-eight year old Oriana is about to change some lives appeared first on The Third Eye.