18: Happy Hearts Fund Makes my Heart Happy Too

http://happyheartsfund.org/our-mission/

I began to write today's post wanting to find a happy charity. After a bit of a hunt, I put the word "happy" into Charity Navigator (the IMDB of nonprofits), and found the Happy Hearts Fund, which rebuilds schools after national disasters like the tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004 have destroyed them. Happy Hearts Fund works after emergency personnel have finished their part in hopes the children will feel empowered and hopeful rather than forgotten as things quiet in their areas. 
Being a huge fan of education and reading, of course this makes me happy. The story behind the founding of Happy Hearts Fund has a poignancy of purpose: 

http://happyheartsfund.org/petras-story/

After surviving the 2004 tsunami, Petra founded Happy Hearts Fund in 2005. By 2011, they had rebuilt 50 schools. By the end of 2015, they had rebuilt 150 schools and helped with other educational needs around the globe, including donating "104 iPads to replace those that were lost during the hurricane to The Scholars' Academy in the Rockaways." http://happyheartsfund.org/world-impact/
By focusing on the post crisis period of rebuilding a community and rebuilding schools during this period, Happy Hearts Fund does more than just give the children the knowledge they can return to education, but it also gives them the confidence in returning to a sense of normalcy they've lost - a feeling that can help with post traumatic stress by grounding a known safe place and situation with hope for the future. I loved school (still do when I get a chance to go), so wrhen I close my eyes and imagine how that would have felt to me, it takes my breath away. I cannot wait to see what other great things happen with the Happy Hearts Fund.

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